Biologists celebrate

“Extinct” moth rediscovered in the Ländle region

A beautiful butterfly, the white night porter. Spotted above Dornbirn.(Bild: APA/HELMUT H…TTINGER)

The white moth, which was thought to be extinct in Vorarlberg, has made a successful comeback. In biology circles, the sighting of the moth is considered a sensation. 

It's not every day that biologists celebrate something like this: for the first time since 1919, the white moth has been found again in Vorarlberg. The discovery in a forest above Dornbirn was made by a participant in the citizen science project "Butterflies of Austria" last July, as the "Blühendes Österreich" foundation reported on Tuesday. 25,000 amateur butterfly observers documented around 124,000 butterflies last year.

The most sensational find was the "white forest porter" (Brintesia circe). It prefers warm, sunny habitats such as dry grasslands and sparse forests. The large-scale decline of the species is therefore often associated with more intensive land use. Peter Huemer, board member of "Blühendes Österreich" and curator of the natural history collection at the Tyrolean State Museums, sees the fact that it has now been found again in Vorarlberg as a remarkable discovery: "The first sighting since 1919 gives us hope that, despite the drastic decline in butterfly populations in recent decades, it is still five to twelve for some species. This is an urgent wake-up call to step up our conservation efforts."

Indicators of intact or less intact habitats
Butterflies are considered indicators of intact ecosystems and play an important role in pollination. They suffer particularly from the use of pesticides.