Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni. Often the first and last butterfly to be seen in the season. The female’s wings are much paler than the male’s, almost white. The angular shape and veining on their wings gives them a leaflike look. They never settle with their wings open. Photo: © Tristan Bantock
Comma, Polygonia c-album. A sudden decline meant that in 1920 there were only two sightings in the UK. By 1930 the population recovered and it is now one of the more familiar butterflies. The species survives the winter in the adult stage or can hibernate. Larvae that develop early in the season go on to produce another generation. It gets its […]
Common blue, Polyommatus icarus. Male upper sides are an iridescent lilac blue with a thin black border. Females are brown with a row of red spots along the edges. Undersides have a greyish ground colour in the males and more brownish in the females. Both sexes have a row of red spots along the edge of the hind wings.
Gatekeeper, Pyronia tithonus. The Gatekeeper is one of the ‘Brown’ family. Orange and brown, with black eyespot on forewing tip. Eyespots have two white pupils, not one, as in the Meadow Brown. Gatekeeper is also smaller and more orange with row of tiny white dots on hind underwings. Favourite nectar sources include Wild Marjoram, Common Fleabane, ragworts, and Bramble.
Green-veined white, Pieris napi. It is found in meadows, hedgerows and woodland glades but not as often in gardens and parks like its close relatives the Large and Small Whites, for which it is often mistaken.The so-called green veins on the underside of the adults are, in fact, an illusion created by a subtle combination of yellow and black scales.
Holly blue, Celastrina argiolus. The Holly Blue has two broods per year, the first appears in April, well before other blue butterflies. It is much the commonest blue found in parks and gardens where it congregates around Holly (in spring) and Ivy (in late summer), prefering honeydew to nectar. It is widespread, but undergoes large fluctuations in numbers from year to year.
Large skipper, Ochlodes sylvanus. It can be found anywhere where wild grasses are allowed to grow tall. Hedgerows, woodland clearings and edges are favourites. Active in sunny weather it is attracted to various flowers but has a distinct liking for Bramble flowers. A faint chequered pattern on both sides of the wings distinguish it from the Small and Essex Skippers.
Large White, Pieris brassicae. The adult feeds on Thistles, Bluebell, Bugle, Dandelion Devil’s bit and Field Scabious, Fleabane and Knapweeds. The black marking which curves around the apex of the forewing distinguishes it from it’s smaller relation the Small White where the marking is straighter. Nicknamed the ‘Cabbage white’ due to it’s ability to devour cabbages alarmingly quickly.
Meadow brown, Maniola jurtina. One of our commonest butterflies often seen throughout the summer months near grasslands. A highly variable species, particularly with respect to the amount of orange on the forewings and the number of black spots on the underside of the hindwings. Adults will fly in dull weather when most other butterflies are inactive.
Orange tip, Anthocharis cardamines. One of the first species of spring. The male has orange tips to the forewings. These orange tips are absent in the female which is often mistaken for one of the other whites, especially the Green-veined or Small White. The undersides are mottled green and white which is in fact made up of a mixture of black and […]
