cogain's environmental expert Kaj Svahn has discovered two new species for Sweden in the space of three days in June. One is the greater potato moth (Eumenes papillarius), which has already been established in Denmark for some time, and the other is the moth Caradrina gilva, which has no Swedish name.
- "The changing climate is bringing new insect species that we have not had here before. The need for better monitoring of insects in Sweden is urgent," says Kaj Svahn.
The field season is currently underway, which means that Ecogain's environmental consultants are out doing nature value inventories. Among other things, they are following up on measures taken by companies to benefit nature and biodiversity. It is not common to discover completely new species, but that is exactly what happened to Kaj Svahn, senior consultant at Ecogain.
NEW KIND OF WASP IN LINDÄNGEN IN MALMÖ
In a courtyard in the Lindängen area of Malmö, Stena Fastigheter and the association Hållbar Utveckling Skåne have had a project to benefit pollinators. Even relatively small efforts like these, quickly yields positive effects for biodiversity.
- In Lindängen, some small meadow areas and an area of bare sand in the lawn have been created and the number of pollinators has increased significantly, and in a short time. "Every small area where native plants are allowed to flourish is valuable," says Kaj Svahn.
During the inventory, Ecogain measured the results of the initiative and found that there were both more species of bees and more individuals in the area. Kaj Svahn also discovered a caterpillar of a red-listed butterfly on the farm. And then there was the greater potato wasp, a completely new species for Sweden. Some people are afraid of wasps, but this is a peaceful species that the residents of Lindängen do not have to worry about.
- It's a solitary animal that's completely harmless to humans, unless you mess with it a lot of course," he says.
WARMER CLIMATE LEADS TO NEW SPECIES IN SWEDEN
The greater pot marigold is already established in Denmark, so it was not unexpected that it would make its way to southern Sweden. Climate change and global warming are altering the living conditions of animals and plants and leading to the establishment of new species in Swedish nature.
- This also highlights the need for more data on insect populations in Sweden. The need is urgent, we risk losing species that we didn't even know existed and at the same time we can get new species that can affect both forestry and agriculture - and wipe out our native species - without us having a clue that it is happening.
SURPRISING DISCOVERY ON THE BALCONY: THE MOTH CARADRINA GILVA
Another new species, the beautiful moth Caradrina gilva, was discovered by Kaj on his balcony in Malmö, where he monitors the movements of moths using a light trap. This butterfly species normally lives in the Alps, sometimes at altitudes of several thousand meters, and there are no reports of it being seen in Denmark or the UK, for example.
- It was a surprising discovery. I had just bought a new book with all the night flies in Europe, so I had to sit down and look through it to find the right one," says Kaj Svahn.
The two new discoveries are a wake-up call on the urgency of mapping insect life in Sweden, and seeing how their presence and distribution is affected by the warming climate. Insects have faster generation rates than other animal species, which also means that changes are visible quickly.
LACK OF MONITORING OF INSECT POPULATIONS
Svahn says that apart from companies that are at the forefront of sustainability work and make conscious investments in biodiversity, it is basically only volunteers who devote their spare time to monitoring species groups such as wasps and moths in Sweden. There is a lack of fixed monitoring points and long time series that could have provided relevant data on how populations are changing.
- Changes in insect populations affect all ecosystem services and are crucial for our future - we need to have a much better overview of this," says Kaj Svahn.