Ábrahám Levente – Farkas Sándor: Butterflies along the river Drava, 2008

The most species-rich butterfly family is that of brush-footed butterflies. This family contains differently coloured and morphologically variable species. Our most widely known protected species belong to this taxon. The peacock (Inachisio) [25] and the red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) [26] develop on stinging nettle; both are frequent species. Just like these species, the small tortoiseshell (Aglias urticae) [27] also used to be abundant, but today it is very rarely encountered. The possible reason is global warming. This species overwinters as an adult in tree hollows or crevices, but can take shelter even in cellars. The first warm spells often come too early in late winter when its specimens wake up from their hibernation, and large numbers will be killed in a repeated cold period which is caused by increasingly frequent extreme weather conditions. This problem has similar effects on populations of several other butterflies. Another frequent species among brush-footed butterflies is painted lady (Itassa cardui) [28]. In some years it migrates in masses.