Camberwell Beauty (Nymphalis antiopa)
As almost everywhere in 
GermanyGermany, the habitats of plants and animals in Bonn, GermanyBonn have been reduced in size or destroyed in recent decades. Land areas have been homogenised or converted, e.g. from open spaces to forest, sealed or built on. As a result, they have lost their ecological value.
As a result, Bonn, GermanyBonn has lost a large proportion of the butterfly species that used to occur there:
29 of the original 86 butterfly species in Bonn, GermanyBonn are extinct or considered lost (see Bonn: Species decline: Occurrence in the past/at present). This is despite the fact that Bonn, GermanyBonn has a comparatively large forest area in the form of the Kottenforst, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyKottenforst. The forest species are doing well in Bonn, GermanyBonn, but the species adapted to other habitats are not doing at all; many of these species have disappeared.
The city area lacks open, inhomogeneous areas. There is a lack of unsealed, overgrown areas with high biodiversity and spatial connections between them.
It doesn't have to stay like this and could be changed: It would be possible, for example, to provide part of the Bonner, GermanyBonner forest paths with a wide, low vegetated fringe that is kept free of bushes and trees through regular maintenance measures. Wooded areas could be cleared and, once the humus layer has been removed, once again become a habitat for many species. The many orchid species formerly found on the Venusberg should be mentioned here as an example.
Parts of agricultural land could be converted. In addition to flower strips - fortunately already established today on the Meßdorfer Feld, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyMeßdorfer Feld - replanting with boundary hedges could also create important habitats for mammals and birds.
This requires financial resources, political will and broad acceptance by the population. The mindset in the population must be corrected: Of course, forests and their trees fulfil important ecological, social and economic functions. But open spaces are just as important for biodiversity. Most butterfly species do not live in forests.
Storage area for logs in the Kottenforst next to the A565
Photograph:
Ingo DanielsIngo Daniels; Bonn, GermanyBonn, GermanyGermany (24. March 2022)
Cutting down trees is not a bad thing per se. It makes a difference whether the tree is to make way for a car park or a biotope for rare plants and animals.
The Kottenforst, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyKottenforst is also utilised economically: Targeted, regular tree felling generates income that can be used for forest maintenance, among other things. They also create space for the existing trees to develop better and for other plants to spread. It would be desirable to remove trees in particularly suitable places and keep these areas as free as possible. Parts of the many areas cleared by bark beetles could also be used for this purpose.
Wahnbachtalsperre dam
Photograph:
Ingo DanielsIngo Daniels; Bonn, GermanyBonn, GermanyGermany (2018)
As a child, I often went on Sunday outings with my father and brothers to the nearby Wahnbach dam (the
We always took a short walk over the dam wall through a small wooded area back to the parked car. When we stepped out of the forest, we were greeted by a beautiful, cool and damp wild meadow bordered by hedges and trees.
It was always a great pleasure to be able to observe the very special insects and butterflies there!
We travelled to the Wahnbach dam again on a spring Sunday and the anticipation was huge. We walked over the dam wall and then turned off into the forest.
When we emerged from the forest, I thought at first that we had taken the wrong path: The colourful meadow had disappeared! Many of the hedges and trees had been removed. Instead, there was just uniform short green grass. It wasn't even a private garden. It looked more like an unused area belonging to the water supplier. Insects and butterflies were now to be found in vain.
The micro-climate there was also completely different now. Presumably, the area had been drained and restored to an orderly state with German thoroughness. But why?
Meadow in the Greek Rhodopes near Ano Karyofyto
Photograph:
Ingo DanielsIngo Daniels; Ano Karyofyto (Άνω Καρυόφυτο), 
GreeceAno Karyofyto (Άνω Καρυόφυτο), GreeceGreece (19. June 2019)
A good 30 years later, I finally made a trip to the Wahnbach dam with my children. I couldn't find the place described again. Apparently the route is now different and/or the spot is now wooded.
In the Greek Rhodopes, however, I had déjà vu in 2019:
There I found the lost wild meadow again!
In the past
Skippers (Hesperiidae)
Silver-spotted SkipperHesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758)Common Branded SkipperHolarctic Grass Skipper
Silver-spotted Skipper
Gossamer-Winged Butterflies (Lycaenidae)
Dusky Large BluePhengaris nausithous (Bergsträsser, 1779)Maculinea nausithousGlaucopsyche nausithous
Dusky Large Blue
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
High Brown FritillaryArgynnis adippe (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Fabriciana adippeHigh Brown Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered FritillaryBoloria selene (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Silver-bordered FritillarySmall Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Queen of Spain FritillaryIssoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758)Argynnis lathoniaQueen of Spain Fritillary
Spotted FritillaryMelitaea didyma (Esper, 1778)Red-band Fritillary
Spotted Fritillary
Papilionidae
At present (2025)
Skippers (Hesperiidae)
Silver-spotted SkipperHesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758)Common Branded SkipperHolarctic Grass SkipperSilver-spotted Skipper
Gossamer-Winged Butterflies (Lycaenidae)
Dusky Large BluePhengaris nausithous (Bergsträsser, 1779)Maculinea nausithousGlaucopsyche nausithousDusky Large Blue
Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)
High Brown FritillaryArgynnis adippe (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Fabriciana adippeHigh Brown Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered FritillaryBoloria selene (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)Silver-bordered FritillarySmall Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Queen of Spain FritillaryIssoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758)Argynnis lathoniaQueen of Spain Fritillary
Spotted FritillaryMelitaea didyma (Esper, 1778)Red-band FritillarySpotted Fritillary
Papilionidae
Data basis: Reinhardt; Harpke; Caspari; Dolek; Kuehn; Musche; Trusch; Wiemers; Settele, 2020 - Verbreitungsatlas der Tagfalter und Widderchen Deutschlands and own observations.