Butterflies of Great Britain

INTRODUCTION

Few of us can fail to appreciate the magical qualities of butterflies, either in respect to their beauty, or in respect to their immense strength; with some species travelling round the world on what are virtually paper wings.

Many of us will have reared some species from caterpillar to butterfly as children, or seen caterpillars and wondered what they would turn into.  That is yet another fascinating thing about butterflies in respect to their amazing ability to transform themselves into totally different entities throughout their lifecycle, as they evolve from eggs, to caterpillars, to a chrysalis, and then to finally emerge as butterflies.

Many will be aware of our most common species, the garden butterflies such as the Large and Small White (collectively known as Cabbage Whites), the Peacock and the Red Admiral, but there are many more, well over fifty in fact with some species arriving on British shores just for the summer.  Some species visit to our shores every few years as a rare migrant.  With the climate changing, there is great potential for some extinct species to return, and new species to appear on a regular basis, as species move northwards (both U.K. species and European).  This guide will help you to identify any butterflies you see, and give you some basic information on each butterfly’s lifecycle.

AUTHORS GUIDANCE NOTES

Sadly many of the British butterflies are in great decline, along with lots of other creatures and insects, due in part to habitat destruction, but also because of evolution and climate changes.  This book has been produced to help people identify any species they come across, using photographic examples. 

This book includes several species that are sadly now extinct in the U.K. (purely for historical interest) along with many migrant species which can occasionally be seen in the country during the summer months. 

Throughout this book, many descriptions are given in respect to the colour of the various life-stage forms (i.e. in respect to the colour of a particular species eggs, larva and pupae).  It is important to realise that these are general descriptions and not exact, as such colouration will undoubtedly vary according to the stage of development the egg, larvae or pupae is at.  In respect to butterfly eggs for example, many are white or very pale green when laid, but they will often change to orange or another colour fairly quickly and they will eventually assume a dark colour just before the larvae in them emerge.  Colour variations can also apply to caterpillars and pupae too.  Because eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis can change according to age, I have used general colour descriptions as an example when constructing this guide.

When describing species of butterfly, it can be difficult to give an exact size in respect to any particular species, as butterfly sizes can vary greatly, therefore the sizes quoted in this book relate to average sizes, rather than approximate size, and merely give a rough guide.  In actual fact, butterfly sizes can vary greatly according to a butterfly’s sexual orientation, and also in respect to development conditions, i.e. when the original caterpillar hatched, the weather conditions throughout that insects’ development, and its feeding opportunities.  If conditions are poor and there is little food around during development time, a butterfly may still complete its lifecycle, but it will often be much smaller than average; regional variations often apply with subspecies too.

Where distribution information is given (particularly in an international context), this is in general terms only, as species populations can be very transient in respect to living conditions and several subspecies may appear the same.

VANESSIDS and NYMPHALIDAE

The butterflies in this group will be widely known to a lot of people, as many of them are common visitors to people’s gardens, especially the Comma, Red Admiral and the Peacock.  In the past the Small Tortoiseshell would also have been seen regularly as one of our most common butterflies in domestic gardens and in a great many other habitats, but it is seen less frequently nowadays.  Many of the members of this particular group choose common nettle as their larval food plant (though not exclusively). 

The butterflies in the vanessid and nymphalidae group are fairly large in size, averaging around 25 – 30 millimetres, roughly the size of a fifty pence piece. 

Many of the species in this group over-winter, either in out-houses, garden sheds, woodpiles etc.  Most of the butterflies in this group emerge early in the spring, with Red Admirals and Peacocks sometimes being seen throughout the year, depending upon weather conditions.  All the butterflies in this group are very strong fliers with most being seen during the summer and autumn, many having come into the country as migrants from overseas, during the hot summer months.  In good years, such migrant influxes (particularly of the Painted Lady) can boost native numbers quite considerably, making them seem very plentiful during the autumn months.

Peacock (Inachis io).

WINGSPAN  (Large) 5 – 6CM

(Note: The male and female of this species have similar markings.)

DISTRIBUTION:  This butterfly can be seen just about anywhere in the United Kingdom.  It is also widely distributed across Europe and is even found in parts of Asia, i.e. Japan etcetera.

U.K.  FLIGHT SEASON:  Whilst this butterfly can be seen all year round (depending upon weather conditions), they are most obvious in early spring and during late summer from July onwards.

HABITAT:  This species may be spotted in many different habitats, owing to the abundance and widespread nature of its larval food-plant.  This butterfly may be found in domestic gardens, open countryside, woodland rides, in scrubland areas and many other types of habitat.

IDENTIFICATION:  Being a very easy butterfly to identify; this species has a ground colour of chocolate brown, with a dark grey edging to each wing.  It can be easily distinguished from other butterflies by the fact that it has a large eye spot on each wing.  The eyespots themselves comprise of two multi-coloured circles with a black border, the outer ring on the forewing, generally being a mixture of bright yellow and pale blue, with a black or very dark brown centre.  With the hindwing, the large yellow crescent shaped outer margin of the eyespot can appear much paler, almost off-white, with the inner ring being purplish/powder blue and black.  The underwings of a Peacock butterfly appear as almost black when this species is at rest with its wings closed, looking more closely however, a subtle mosaic of dark coloured lines and patterns make up the wing surface.

This butterfly is usually seen with its wings open and can often be found in a wide variety of settings, i.e. basking on walls, on the ground, or on flowers etc, or sometimes may be seen with its wings closed, generally when it is at roost, when the weather is poor, i.e. it is cold, dull or windy.

In most years this is very common butterfly.  As well as being a very long lived butterfly, it is also a very powerful flier and can be seen throughout most of the year with the exception of colder months when it tends to hide away in dark corners in a state of partial hibernation.  If the weather is warm enough during winter months (generally this is around 10 degrees or more), it may emerge briefly on the odd bright day.

NECTARING PLANTS:  As well as being very fond of nectaring on Buddleia bushes in domestic gardens and in the wild, this butterfly will also nectar on a whole host of other flowers; both domestic and wild.  Much depends upon whether this butterfly is sighted in spring or autumn and the location found, in respect to what nectar sources are available to them.  This butterfly can also be found nectaring on fallen fruit and on ivy flowers during the autumn months too.

SIMILAR SPECIES:  Because of its brilliant peacock eyespots, this butterfly cannot easily be confused with any other species when observed in a static position at close quarters.  When seen with its wings closed however, it is possible to confuse this butterfly with a Red Admiral which has similar dark angular underwings.  There is however a clear difference when looked at these two species closely, in that the Red Admiral has a clear reddish/pink band just above its lower underwing as well as some prominent white markings just below the apex of its top wing and some random dark blue streaks scattered randomly across both underwings.  The Peacock has a purely black appearance to its underwings in cold, dull light, with faint traces of the eyespots when in full sun.

LIFECYCLE:  The larval food-plant is Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica).  The eggs are laid in batches on the underside of the leaves.  They are ribbed, greenish colour and lamp shaped.  The caterpillar itself has long spines; it has a black ground colour with many white spots along its length.  The larvae of this butterfly are easily found during the summer months, gathered together in a web type nest at the very top of nettle plants, feeding on the new shoots.  When fully grown, they move off individually to pupate nearby, before emerging as butterflies a few weeks later.  The chrysalis is brilliant sulphur yellow with green patches, and with various gold flashpoints.

Comma (Polygonia c-album).

WINGSPAN  (Large) 5 – 6.5 CM

(Note: The male and female of this species have similar markings.)

DISTRIBUTION:  This butterfly can be seen just about anywhere in England and Wales but is far less often seen in Ireland or Scotland.  The butterfly is however increasing its range northwards with far more sightings in southern Scotland during recent years.  This butterfly is also widely distributed across Europe and is even found in parts of Asia, i.e. Japan etc and North Africa.

U.K. FLIGHT SEASON:  This butterfly can be found during many months of the year, with a brief lull in activity during the early summer months.  (There is a brief period during the summer when this species reproduces and a new generation of this butterfly then appears).  This butterfly then becomes very common and is very prominent during late summer months and well into the autumn.  As with the Peacock, this butterfly hibernates over the winter and many re-emerge during warm days during February and March.

HABITAT:  This species may be spotted almost anywhere, owing to its choice of larval food-plant.  This butterfly may be found in domestic gardens, open countryside, woodland rides, along hedgerows, in scrubland areas and many other types of habitat.

IDENTIFICATION:  The Comma is probably one of the easiest butterflies to identify, either basking with its wings open, or with its wings closed, because of its unique, purposely shaped, ragged wing shape.  It is also a very common urban butterfly too.  There are no other butterflies in the U.K. which have ragged wings as the Comma has.  The most identifiable feature of this butterfly however, can be found on the underside of its wings, (i.e. its white comma markings on each underwing); it’s from those marks that the butterfly gets its name.  The ground colour of the top side of the wings is an orange tan colour.  This is overlaid by black and brown parches with a brown border to each of the very ragged wings.  The underside of this butterfly is far more spectacular.

When at rest, or nectaring with wings closed, the butterfly looks like a shrivelled leaf with a cold, dull brown mottled ground colour.  On each of the hindwings however, a large white comma mark can clearly be seen.  The edges are also marked by a row of dark green spots which look like emerald jewellery.  This butterfly has a fluttering flight and is fairly territorial in nature.  The first new brood of butterflies to hatch are often paler in colour, and some have much smoother wing edges; but they can still be easily identified by their underwing markings.

NECTARING PLANTS:  As well as being very fond of nectaring on Buddleia, bushes and Bramble, this butterfly will also nectar on a whole host of other flowers too.  This butterfly can also be found feeding on fallen fruit and on Ivy flowers during the autumn months, well into November.

SIMILAR SPECIES:  Because of its ragged appearance and the white comma on its underwings, this butterfly cannot easily be confused with any other species when observed in a static position at close quarters.  During flight periods however, this butterfly may be mistaken for a Small Tortoiseshell on occasion.

This species could also in theory be confused with the spring version of the Map Butterfly, though this is very unlikely as the Map Butterfly is not currently native to the U.K. and is an extremely rare visitor to U.K. shores. 

LIFECYCLE:  After hatching from their olive green, ribbed, barrel shaped eggs, the larvae of this species feed on a fairly wide range of foods.  Whilst they can be found individually on Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica), they will also feed on Hops (Humulus lupulus), and Elm (Ulmus) leaves.  They have many spines along their length and are orange with a triangular antlered head.  The lower half of their bodies are white in colour, with continuing orange sides.  Pupating on the food-plant, the chrysalis appears slightly shrivelled.  It is a dark brownish colour with a narrow waist, below the wing area.  There are also some metallic gold points on its back.

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta).

WINGSPAN  (Large) 5 – 6.5 CM

(Note: The male and female of this species have similar markings.)

DISTRIBUTION:  This butterfly can be seen just about anywhere in the United Kingdom.  This butterfly is also found in many temperate parts of Europe, Asia and North Africa.

U.K. FLIGHT SEASON:  Whilst this butterfly may be seen all year round, most sightings occur in early spring and during late summer from July onwards, with many migrants arriving to boost their numbers. 

HABITAT:  This species may be found in many different habitats, owing to the abundance of its larval food-plant and its tendency to migrate and travel great distances.  Because of these factors, this butterfly may be found in domestic gardens, open countryside, woodland rides, in scrubland areas and many other types of habitat.

IDENTIFICATION:  This species is usually seen with its wings open and can often be found in a wide variety of settings, on the ground or on flowers etc, or it may sometimes be seen with its wings closed, generally when it is at roost or when the weather is poor, i.e. during cold, dull or windy conditions.

This butterfly is most striking with strong flashes of red, black and white on the outer section of its upper wings, with a fine bluish violet strip running nearer to the wing tips.  Freshly emerged specimens have a strong chestnut sheen on the brown patches towards the centre of both fore and hindwings. 

The lower wing edges have large red borders with two purplish/blue bars appearing as narrow eye markings on the internal edges of each wing.  There are also small black dots and a thin black and white alternating band on the outer edges of its wings which can also be found on the edges of the forewings.  This black and white band does disappear as the butterfly gets older and its wing edges start to wear away though.

The lower underwings of this butterfly appear as almost black when this species is at rest with its wings closed, looking more closely however, a series of blue coloured circles can just be seen towards the outer edges of the hindwing with a subtle mosaic of dark colours making up the wing surface.  The forewings are very nicely marked with a strong pinkish red band, above are two very distinct but smaller blue bands; towards the apex of the wings are a series of brilliant white spots.

In most years this butterfly is fairly common and can be found almost anywhere, either nectaring on various flowers, or on the ground basking.  As well as being a very long lived butterfly, it is also a very powerful flier.  This species can be seen throughout most of the year, with the exception of colder months such as February and March, when it tends to hide away in dark corners in a state of partial hibernation.  This species will however emerge sporadically during the winter months on any bright days, if the weather is warm enough; generally this is around 5 - 10 degrees or more.

NECTARING PLANTS:  As well as being very fond of nectaring on Buddleia bushes and a whole host of other