Climate change a worry for Greece’s hungry butterflies

In a controlled enclosure in a zoo outside Athens, multi-colored butterflies suck sweet juice from orange slices, free from the hazards of a changing climate outside that are threatening populations in Greece and across the world.

Warmer temperatures are making life harder for butterflies in Greece, home to some 237 species. Food is scarcer, flowering periods are shorter, and experts now suspect the butterflies may be getting smaller.

The problem is echoed globally, including in Mexico and Britain where numbers of some species have declined sharply.

"Climate change is impacting butterflies … that rely on temperature to perform essential activities such as mating, reproduction, growth, and feeding," said Konstantinos Anagnostellis, an agronomist.

Chrysalises, the butterflies in their cocoons, are attached to wooden sticks inside a breeding box, at the Attica...