Distribution in Germany

Although the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty can be found in all German federal states, there are now only very few areas GermanyGermanys where the butterfly is native.

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is not common in GermanyGermany in any location.

In many areas where the butterfly was once ubiquitous, it has almost completely disappeared for decades. This also includes near-natural areas that still exist today.

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty occurs regularly and with constant populations in GermanyGermany only in Montains (Alps: 800-1850m altitude, Low mountain range 450-1500m altitude)montane areas Weidemann, 1986 - Naturführer Tagfalter Band 1 - Entwicklung-Lebensweise and in parts of eastern GermanyGermany. These are in particular:

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• Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, GermanySchwarzwald
• Bayerischer Wald, Bavaria, GermanyBayerischer Wald
• Cool regions of the Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, GermanyUpper Palatinate
• At the foot of the Thuringian Forest, Bavaria, GermanyThuringian Forest
• In parts of Brandenburg, GermanyBrandenburg, in and around Berlin, GermanyBerlin1
• In parts of Saxony Anhalt, GermanySaxony Anhalt and Saxony, GermanySaxony

There are several attempts to explain what exactly is causing the sharp decline of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty's in de and many other European countries:

• Natural cyclical population fluctuations, e.g. due to climatic influences, predators or parasites Ebert; Rennwald, 1991 - Die Schmetterlinge Baden-Württembergs. Band 1, Tagfalter I Young, 1980 - Some observations on the natural history and behavior of the Camberwell Beauty (Mourning Cloak) butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera; Nymphalidae) in the United States.
• Global climate change, e.g. due to warmer winters and/or rainier summers Kinkler, 1997 - War die Hoffnung auf die Wiederansiedlung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) im Rheinland trügerisch? (Lep., Nymphalidae).
• Increased use of insecticides, which pollutes the important food source fallen fruit Weidemann, 1988 - Naturführer Tagfalter Band 2 - Biologie-Ökologie-Biotopschutz.
• Destruction of larval habitats, e.g. by straightening and clearing forest edges, whereby willows and birches in particular are removed Settele, 1999 - Die Tagfalter Deutschlands.
• Clearing up forest areas with the associated removal of hibernation sites, such as wood piles or brushwood heaps Settele, 1999 - Die Tagfalter Deutschlands.
• An epidemic in which populations can be completely wiped out by disease Busch, 1970 - Tag- und Nachtfalter in der Hocheifel.

Some populations in GermanyGermany have been able to recover through immigration from more easterly areas. A collapse of the populations in northern BavariaBavaria in the post-war years was followed, for example, by recolonisation from the border strip to today's CzechiaCzechia from around 1960 Weidemann, 1988 - Naturführer Tagfalter Band 2 - Biologie-Ökologie-Biotopschutz.

Although the butterfly sometimes undertakes enormous migrations, it has hardly spread further in GermanyGermany in recent decades (in contrast to other migratory butterflies, only some of the butterflies leave their place of origin).

In Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is not considered native Kolligs, 2003 - Schmetterlinge Schleswig-Holsteins, Atlas der Tagfalter, Dickkopffalter und Widderchen.

1The Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa) is often seen in the south/south-east of Berlin in particular (source: André Mattuschka, pers. comm.).

The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty disappeared completely in the northern Rhineland and western Westphalia after the cold winter of 1954/55 and has not naturalised again since then Kinkler, 1996 - Wiedereinwanderung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) ins nördliche Rheinland und ins westliche Westfalen (Lep., Nymphalidae).

This unusually harsh winter was also responsible for the extinction of the entire population of Moorland Clouded YellowColias palaeno (Linnaeus, 1761)Palaeno sulphurPale Arctic Clouded YellowMoorland Clouded Yellow in the High Fens, BelgiumHigh Fens.

hohes_venn_2022_05_28

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Due to the lack of protective snow, all of the butterfly's overwintering caterpillars fell victim to the icy temperatures LÖBF, 1997 - Praxishandbuch Schmetterlingsschutz.

The Moorland Clouded YellowColias palaeno (Linnaeus, 1761)Palaeno sulphurPale Arctic Clouded YellowMoorland Clouded Yellow has since died out in the High Fens, BelgiumHigh Fens.

Occasional sightings of the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty's in the Rhineland and Westphalia are probably due to bred specimens or isolated immigrants. Permanent or established populations are unlikely.

Noteworthy is the year 1995, in which an unusually large number of butterflies were reported, there was even talk of re-immigration Kinkler, 1996 - Wiedereinwanderung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) ins nördliche Rheinland und ins westliche Westfalen (Lep., Nymphalidae). Compared to the number of reports in the Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands (approx. 1000 butterflies) and DenmarkDenmark (approx. 2000 butterflies), where there were mass migrations in 1995, the Rhineland/Westphalia reports were rather modest.

Just one year later, it became apparent that the number of butterflies was too low and the weather conditions too unfavourable for successful reintroduction.

Even in the Kingdom of the NetherlandsKingdom of the Netherlands there was a rapid decline in reports in the following period, with only 25 butterflies being sighted there in spring 1997 Kinkler, 1997 - War die Hoffnung auf die Wiederansiedlung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) im Rheinland trügerisch? (Lep., Nymphalidae).

In the district of Ahrweiler (approx. 20 km south-west of Bonn, GermanyBonn), the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty occurred in large numbers between 1924 and 1940 Busch, 1970 - Tag- und Nachtfalter in der Hocheifel:

... on birches and willows in all valleys ... as long as the food plant was there, the large caterpillar communities ... hung on the forage branch. At that time, thousands of Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty-caterpillars could easily have been brought in and reared as butterfly.

Not a single butterfly was seen there in 1970.

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The Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty is not native or indigenous to Bonn, GermanyBonn.

I have seen the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in Bonn, GermanyBonn and the surrounding area only once alive and once again as a dead butterfly in over 50 years. See MySightings (1977) and MySightings (2021).

The only other known sightings of the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty in the last decades in and around Bonn, GermanyBonn are listed in articles by Helmut KinklerHelmut Kinkler Kinkler, 1996 - Wiedereinwanderung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) ins nördliche Rheinland und ins westliche Westfalen (Lep., Nymphalidae) Kinkler, 1997 - War die Hoffnung auf die Wiederansiedlung des Trauermantels Nymphalis antiopa (LINNAEUS, 1758) im Rheinland trügerisch? (Lep., Nymphalidae):

Location	Date	Number of butterflies
Bonn, GermanyBonn-Kottenforst, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyKottenforst	14/04/1996	1
Königswinter-Oberdollendorf	12/09/1995	1
Wachtberg-Pech	17/08/1995	1

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Around 150 years ago, the Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauty must have still existed in the area around Bonn, GermanyBonn: Henry Gardiner Adams (1811-1881)Henry Gardiner Adams quoted an unknown author in 1854, who discovered some Camberwell BeautyNymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus, 1758)Mourning CloakCamberwell Beauties (see Stories/Poems (Henry Gardiner Adams: Beautiful Butterflies: Camberwell Beauty (1854))) Adams, 1854 - Beautiful Butterflies: The British Species described and illustrated with an introductory chapter containing the History of a Butterfly through all its changes and transformations on the summit of the Drachenfels, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyDrachenfels in the Siebengebirge, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanySiebengebirge near Bonn, GermanyBonn.