Ecogain's Kaj Svahn found two new species for Sweden
Photo: Kaj Svahn and Michael Tholin.
Ecogain's environmental expert Kaj Svahn has discovered two new species for Sweden within three days in June. Firstly, the larger pot marigold (Eumenes papillarius), which has already been established in Denmark for some time, and secondly the moth Caradrina gilva, which has no Swedish name.
- The changing climate is bringing in new insect species that we haven't had here before. There is an urgent need for better monitoring of insects in Sweden," says Kaj Svahn.
Right now, the field season is underway, which means that Ecogain's environmental consultants are out making nature value inventories. Among other things, they follow up on efforts made by companies to benefit nature and biodiversity. It is not common to discover completely new species, but that is exactly what happened to Kaj Svahn, a senior consultant at Ecogain.
New kind of wasp in Lindängen, Malmö
In a courtyard in the Lindängen area of Malmö, Stena Fastigheter and the association Hållbar Utveckling Skåne ran a project to benefit pollinators. Even relatively small initiatives such as these quicklyhave a positive impact on biodiversity.
- In Lindängen, some small meadow areas and an area of bare sand in the lawn have been created and the number of pollinators has increased significantly, and in a short time. "Every small area where native plants are allowed to flower is valuable," says Kaj Svahn.
During the inventory, Ecogain measured the results of the initiative and found that there were both more species of bees and more individuals in the area. Kaj Svahn also discovered a caterpillar of a red-listed butterfly on the farm. And then there's the larger pottery wasp, a completely new species for Sweden. "Some people are afraid of wasps, but this is a peaceful species that the residents of Lindängen don't have to worry about.
- It is a solitary species that is completely harmless to humans, unless you mess with it a lot, of course," he says.
Warmer climate leads to new species in Sweden
The greater pot marigold is already established in Denmark, so it was not unexpected that it would move on to southern Sweden. Climate change and global warming are changing the living conditions of animals and plants and leading to new species becoming established in Swedish nature.
- This also highlights the need for more data on insect populations in Sweden. The need is urgent, we risk losing species that we didn't even know existed, and at the same time we can introduce new species that can affect both forestry and agriculture - and wipe out our native species - without us even knowing it's happening.
Surprise discovery on the balcony: the moth Caradrina gilva.
Another new species, the beautiful moth Caradrina gilva, was discovered by Kaj at home on his balcony in Malmö where he monitors the movement of moths using a light trap. Normally, this butterfly species lives in the Alps, sometimes at several thousand meters, and there are no reports of it being seen in Denmark or the UK, for example.
- It was a surprising discovery. I had just bought a new book with all the moths of Europe, so I had to sit down and look through it to find the right one," says Kaj Svahn.
The two new discoveries are a wake-up call to the urgency of mapping insect life in Sweden, and seeing how abundance and distribution are affected by the warming climate. Insects have faster generations than other animal species and this also means that changes can be seen quickly.
Lack of monitoring of insect populations
Svahn says that apart from the companies that are at the forefront of sustainability work and make conscious investments in biodiversity, it is basically only volunteers who devote their free time to monitoring species groups such as grasshoppers and moths in Sweden. There is a lack of fixed monitoring points and long time series that could provide relevant data on how populations are changing.
- "Changes in insect populations affect all ecosystem services and are crucial for our future - we would need a much better overview of this," says Kaj Svahn.
