"dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

[Jonathan Sylvestre]

The decline of butterfly populations is derictly proportionnal to the degree 
of specialisation of the species and/or the distance of the human 
population.

For exemple, very specialized species that need a specific host-plant in a 
specific habitat will be more fragile than a generalist species that can use 
many host-plants and habitat.

Now, about the distance of the human population. Butterfly species that live 
close the human population, for exemple in the valleys, have more "less 
chance" to survive than butteflies that live in hardly accessible area.

Most of habitats/host-plants are in decline everywhere (and this is more 
true as you go closer to area where there is a great population of human). 
This is the same for butterflies, except generalist butterflies that even 
take advantage of the human presence, for a moment, but they will be 
eventually in decline too.

I will give you somes examples to helpd you understand my point of view. For 
example, the Lycaena epixanthes. This is a small copper that live only in 
bogs. It is pretyy common in some bogs and when you find a perfect habitat, 
never you can believe that this species will disapear. Perhaps, in my area, 
bogs are systematically converted into craneberry culture. If the number of 
bogs decrease to zero, that will be the same for the Bog Copper. But it will 
not affect the Monarch.

If someone tell you that butterflies are not in decline, he don't know what 
he is talking about. 


 
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