ABSTRACT
In intensively managed farmland, both arable and grassland, adult and larval resources for Lepidoptera can be limiting. Butterflies and moths are significantly impacted by the misplacement of agrochemicals into hedgerows and field margins, especially pesticides, which can kill directly, remove host and nectar plants, and alter plant communities. The structure and management of the field margin also affects the resources available and influences the level of connectivity, which, in turn, influences the ability of species to move through the landscape. Several initiatives have been introduced since the 1980s which seek to reduce the negative impacts of farming operations on butterflies and moths, ranging from reducing pesticide usage at the edges of crops through to more sensitive hedge management and the planting of agri-environment strips to supplement or complement margin resources.
