BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND.

Research data. Ronnie Carleton. (C) 2006

[Hit Counter]

BUTTERFLY LIST 2006.

CHEQUERED SKIPPER. CHEQUERED SKIPPER

LULWORTH SKIPPER. LULWORTH SKIPPER

ESSEX SKIPPER. ESSEX SKIPPER

SMALL SKIPPER. SMALL SKIPPER

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER. SILVER SMALL SKIPPER

LARGE SKIPPER. LARGE SKIPPER

GRIZZLED SKIPPER. GRIZZLED SKIPPER

DINGY SKIPPER. DINGY SKIPPER

SWALLOWTAIL. SWALLOWTAIL

WOOD WHITE. WOOD WHITE

CLOUDED YELLOW. CLOUDED YELLOW

BRIMSTONE. BRIMSTONE

LARGE WHITE. LARGE WHITE

Page 1
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

SMALL WHITE. SMALL WHITE

GREEN VEINED WHITE. GREEN VEINED WHITE

ORANGE TIP. ORANGE TIP

GREEN HAIRSTREAK. GREEN HAIRSTREAK

BROWN HAIRSTREAK. BROWN HAIRSTREAK

PURPLE HAIRSTREAK. PURPLE HAIRSTREAK

WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK. WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK

BLACK HAIRSTREAK. BLACK HAIRSTREAK

LARGE COPPER. LARGE COPPER

SMALL COPPER. SMALL COPPER

SMALL BLUE. SMALL BLUE

SILVER STUDDED BLUE. SILVER STUDDED BLUE

SCOTCH BROWN ARGUS. SCOTCH BROWN ARGUS

SCOTCH ARGUS. SCOTCH ARGUS

BROWN ARGUS. BROWN ARGUS

COMMON BLUE. COMMON BLUE

CHALKHILL BLUE. CHALKHILL BLUE

ADONIS BLUE. ADONIS BLUE

HOLLY BLUE. HOLLY BLUE

LARGE BLUE.* LARGE BLUE

DUKE OF BURGUNDY. DUKE OF BURGUNDY

WHITE ADMIRAL. WHITE ADMIRAL

PURPLE EMPEROR. PURPLE EMPEROR

PAINTED LADY. PAINTED LADY

Page 2
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

SMALL TORTOISESHELL. SMALL TORTOISESHELL

LARGE TORTOISESHELL. LARGE TORTOISESHELL

RED ADMIRAL. RED ADMIRAL

PEACOCK. PEACOCK

COMMA. COMMA

SMALL PEARL BORDERED FRITILLARY. THE FRITILLARY

PEARL BORDERED FRITILLARY. THE FRITILLARY

HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY. FOR ALL FRITILLARY SPECIES CLICK ON

DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.

SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY.

SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY.

MARSH FRITILLARY.

MARSH FRITILLARY.

GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.

HEALTH FRITILLARY.*

SPECKED WOOD. SPECKLED WOOD

WALL. WALL BUTTERFLY

MOUNTAIN RINGLET. MOUNTAIN RINGLET

GATEKEEPER. GATEKEEPER

MARBLED WHITE. MARBLED WHITE

GRAYLING. GRAYLING

MEADOW BROWN. MEADOW BROWN

RINGLET. RINGLET

SMALL HEATH. SMALL HEATH BUTTERFLY

Page 3
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

LARGE HEATH. LARGE HEATH BUTTERFLY

BUTTERFLY BIOLOGY.
Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:27

THE STRUCTURE AND PARTS OF A BUTTERFLY.

Page 4
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

The mouth parts of butterfly are modified from the biting type of some other insects
because they are used for sucking purposes. Mandibles are lost almost and the maxillae
changed into the sucking proboscis. 2 galeae are elongated and held together by hooks
forming a tube that liquids can be drawn into. When not in use they are tucked away
under the head like a spring. When a butterfly is going to feed it is uncoiled and used for
probing into a flower head. When it comes to butterfly legs and fully formed it will have 9
segments that are jointed to one another, coxa (short hip), very short thigh joint
(trochanter), a long thigh (femur), which is followed by a long shin (tibia) and a foot of five
joints (tarsus) with at least the last one ending with 2 claws. Second and third pairs of legs
are well developed .

Genital organs in butterflies are complex organs, the structure used in classification with
portions of the 9th and 10th segments modified to form external parts of them in males.
Some may be divided into structures by which a male clasps a female and of those that the
male ejects sperm. The first of these is the claspers which are hinged to the sides of the 9th
segment which is in the form of a ring around the body. Powerful muscles come into play
here and there may also be signs of spine like structures on the inner surfaces. They are
prehensile organs and well developed in Swallowtails. The claspers represent parts of a pair
of limbs but now modified. Two testes are fused into a single median structure, the sperm
duct runs down from them and emerges between the base of the claspers where it is
enclosed in a sheath and ends in an ejaculatory organ. The last 2 segments, the 9 and 10th
are fused together in the females forming a tube with the anus at the end and an opening of
the ovipositor which the eggs are laid below the 9th segment. From the oviduct leading
forwards and divides, running to a pair of ovaries with each having 4 tubes along which
eggs develop. The sperm of the male is not placed into the opening of the oviduct but in the
vagina situated ventrally on the 8th segment. From it runs a tube which ends in a sac and it
is here where the sperm is stored. This in turn is connected to the oviduct by a another
narrow tube along which the sperm passes a few at a time so that fertile female eggs can be
deposited for a long period after a single copulation.

2 pairs of wings belong to the 2nd and 3rd thoracic segments and are made up of an upper

Page 5
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

and lower membrane. When a butterfly emerges the two membranes are pulled together
with strands that are connecting them and soon meet then fuse except along the course of a
number of ribs which support them. There are hollow and called 'veins' but they are not in
fact veins in the true sense. The terms used for field ID of wings and describing both sets of
wings with the part nearest the thorax called the 'base', the front edge the costa'
' and its
extremity is the 'apex'. The posterior edge is the 'inner margin' which on the hind wings
runs parallel with the body and ends with the 'tornus' with the edge farthest from the body,
connecting the apex and tornus is the 'outer margin', sometimes convex and even at times
look semi-circular. Where it meets, thetornus where it meets the inner margin is known to
some as the 'anal angle 'because it is at that end of the butterflies body.

OTHER BIOLOGICAL FACTORS IN

MONARCH.

Has a bad smell and taste and hard to injure if handled with care. Colours are for
protection rather than for concealment with a slow flight when on the wing. Cells on the
wings are closed and the scent producing organs show also two moveable pencils of hair at
the end of the body and on the hind-wings of the male. Sac like pouches filled with
androconia are often found in the male. Antennae are weakly clubbed. Eggs of this species
are conical and ridged.

SPECKLED WOOD, WALL, MOUNTAIN RINGLET, SCOTCH ARGUS, MARBLED

SMALL AND LARGE HEATH.

All these species are inconspicuous with wings that show eye-like spots and they have a very
jerky and rapid flight. It should be noted that one or more of the nervures on the forewings
are dilated at the base. The cell is always closed and in the malesandroconia is present in
the males showing as long bands on the forewings. Eggs from the above are melon shaped
and grooved, a few showing a flattened top. Caterpillars feed on grasses and they are
spindle shaped covered in short hairs.

FRITILLARY'S.

Yellowish or reddish brown butterflies with black markings and many UK species are
spotted or washed with silver on the underside of the wings, mainly the hind wings.
Precoastal nervure always present with the club of the antennae flat, eyes naked and wings
showing no projections. Androconia are arranged in longitudinal lines on the forewings.
Caterpillars are spiny. Species list in index.

RED ADMIRAL, PAINTED LADY, SMALL TORTOISESHELL, LARGE

Reddish brown in colour with angled wings and the cell in the front pair is closed.
Precoastal nervure is absent in VANESSA. Antennae have pear shaped clubs and the eyes
are hairy. Caterpillars are spined.

Page 6
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

PURPLE EMPEROR.

A single species in the UK which is a large dark butterfly with an iridescent gloss in the
males. Powerful flight and can be seen around the tops of trees. There is no angle to the
wings and the cell is open in both pairs. There is aprecoastal nervure. Antennae have thick
clubs and palpi scaled, not hairy. Caterpillar is spineless with tubercles on the head.

WHITE ADMIRAL.

1 species in the UK that has rounded wings with the cell on the front pair closed by a faint
cross-nervure. Cells in the hind wings are open and there is aprecoastal nervure. Club of
the antennae is elongated and thickened, palpi hairy. Caterpillars have branched spines.

DUKE OF BURGUNDY.

Not a large butterfly but well coloured, fast flight but not lasting long getting from A to B.
Fore wings have around 11 nervures or 10.Cell is narrow which is closed by a faint cross
nervure. Antennae have long clubs.

THE BLUES.

Most are blue coloured, either in both sexes or just in the male. Cell of hind wings is
sometimes open. Caterpillars have a honey gland in all the species found in the UK and
Ireland.

THE COPPERS.

Are in most cases a bright metallic copper colour, fore wings are triangular and the cells
closed.

HAIRSTREAKS.

Upper parts are a sombre colour, undersides of wings is a well marked line or a row of
small dots. Fore wings are broad with hind wings having 'tails' except in a few forms like
the Green Hairstreak. Cell in both wings is closed with a weak cross nervures with scent
glands of the males are concentrated in a patch of nervures 6 and 7. Some caterpillars have
a honey gland. Five species in the UK.

SWALLOWTAIL.

Large butterfly and does not use any uric acid pigments. Knob on the antenna is curved at
times. Is a tailed species. Caterpillar has a bad smell.Prothoracic legs fully formed in males
and females.

THE WHITES.

Yellow and white coloured. There is no transverse nervure in the fore wings, the inner
margin of the hind wings is not upturned. Knob of the antenna is straight and the
prothoracic legs are fully formed in males and females. Caterpillars are worm like without

Page 7
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

spines.

THE YELLOWS.

Yellow or orange in colour and there are no flavones. Almost absentprecoastal nervure.

WOOD WHITE.

Pigment of uric acid found and flavones with small cell on both wings. There is aprecoastal
nervure.

THE SKIPPERS.

All are darting species with a fast flight. Dull in colour with the nervures arising directly
from the cells. Shape of the head is wider than the thorax with large protruding eyes.
Prothoracic legs functional in both males and females. Caterpillars taper at both ends and
build a tent of living leaves. In the Grizzled Skipper and Dingy Skipper the antenna ends
in a point with the male scent glands enclosed in a fold of thecosta of the fore wings.

BRIMSTONE.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Page 8
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

This species is found in parts of Ireland and parts of the UK though scarce in North Wales
and parts of Scotland. It is a nomadic butterfly and could turn up in odd areas of the UK if
there is Buckthorn growing. Has a long lifespan and I have observed them from Feb
through to Dec over many years but this again depended on the weather conditions more
so the winter ones.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

For some it could get confused with the Clouded Yellow. CLICK HERE. CLOUDED
YELLOW

There are two main peaks, the first in the warm days of early spring and the second in
mid-summer. This species likes heat and will be seen flying in the main heat of a day but I
have found that by mid afternoon they tend to start to roost around 4.0pm onwards. They
roost beneath leaves of growing shrubs and are never far away from all purple flower types
that are rich in nectar like teasel, purple loosestrife, buddleia and all thistles that flower.
When they first emerge they stay in the breeding area for around 12 days and some will
winter in some woods if there has been a good purple flower food supply. I have found
them hibernating in ivy clumps, holly trees, bramble patches and in old farm buildings or
keeper's feeding huts in the woods. Those that tend to hibernate more are the last hatched
batch and they can sometimes be seen flying as late as mid October if the weather is still
warm. Males come out of hibernation first and start patrolling along hedgerows and wood
edges that have sunny glades or full sunlight on them. When a female is found there is
always a courtship display and once mated the females seek out one of the two species of
buckthorn in which to lay their eggs.

EGGS.

These I found at all heights in buckthorn but most on the top crown that is open to
sunlight. One egg is laid at a time on the undersides of the tips of leaves but sometimes will
lay them on a stem very close to unopened leaves. Within 10 to 12 days they hatch out and
the young caterpillars start feeding on the new leaf shoots. Older caterpillars eat whole
leaves. There is a large loss of new caterpillars and many older ones find themselves the
food of warblers that have just arrived but a good number are also killed by wasps. The
tachinid flies tend to use them to lay eggs in. Any caterpillars that are left leave the food
plant to pupate. A chrysalis hatches out in 12 days.

Page 9
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

CHEQUERED SKIPPER.

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND HOME INDEX PAGE.

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:29

FLIGHT. June and July in single brood.

HABITAT. Light woodland areas.

Now found only in Scotland and vanished from many English sites around 1975. There was
once 5 colonies , four of which had been in the East Midlands nature reserves. Rapid
dashing flight and also zigzagging a few inches above the ground.

Can be mistaken at times for the Duke Of Burgundy but this skippers wings are more
angular and there are no spots along its forewings.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY

It may well be that the past , English Chequered Skipper and the one found in Scotland are
different races.

Depending on weather conditions it will emerge as one generation around late May and
flies into late August. The colonies vary in number from a few hundred to a few dozen.
Considered rare in many areas of Scotland and mainly in the NW areas. Males will
establish a territory and defend it from a sun lit site. Will buzz any other intruders coming

Page 10
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

by.

Like all blue coloured flowers like bluebells, bugle and harebells. Eggs in Scotland are laid
on purple moor grass, sometimes broom. The purple moor grass tussock is chosen with
great care by egg laying females. Caterpillars of this species are very slow growing and to
be full grown it will take 100 days. Goes into hibernation in Oct till the next spring.

PAST ENGLISH BREEDING SITES.

Lincolnshire down to Oxford in the 19th century in a band of woodlands and limestone
grasslands all of which were reported as wet sites. By 1950 this butterfly was restricted as a
breeding species to Lincolnshire, Rockingham Forest, Brigstock, Northamptonshire and
Rutland. There has been no reported sightings in England since 1975.

SCOTLAND.

This species was unknown in Scotland until 1942 and first reported at Fort William but a
woman who lived in the area found this butterfly in 1939. As it stands today there may well
be more colonies to be discovered elsewhere in NW Scotland and I would suggest possible
in the Lough Ness area and east.

CLOUDED YELLOW.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

This species is rare to Ireland and the UK and is a migrant butterfly. It cannot survive here
in the UK or Ireland due to the damp and cold winters. Mostly found in the south but a few

Page 11
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

make it as far north as Scotland and Co. Antrim and there are years when there could be a
'flush' of these migrants coming from Southern Europe and North Africa. The UK get
more Clouded Yellow butterflies each year than does Holland, Sweden and Norway. The
first migrants reach our coasts from the second week in May through to June though a
very few may arrive as early as late March depending on the UK winter and the wind
direction from the south. Thousands may be seen at sea heading for the UK and Ireland
and looking like a yellow haze over the water. Cornwall is a good observation point
watching for these arrivals from May onwards. Dorset and Devon get more numbers than
anywhere else in the UK and once they arrive they start to spread outwards across the
whole country. They tend to like fields of clover and the chalk Downs. There is no year that
I know of since I was a boy that clouded yellows have not been recorded.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

Females lay their eggs in clover fields with the bottle shaped eggs laid on the top of the
leaves. At first they are white then change to orange in colour. Hatching out is 8 days and
the caterpillar feeds on the host plant and is full grown in five weeks. Chrysalis state lasts 3
weeks but many die, including the caterpillar of this species if the weather turns cold and
wet. The first batch of chrysalis emerge in August and seen flying soon afterwards. The
second batch fly in September. Can sometimes be confused with adult Brimstone butterflies
in flight and there is a pale coloured form of clouded yellow that also turns up, females only.
In Autumn there is the reverse migration south though a very few may try and hibernate
through a south UK winter. The migration route seems to be S.S.W from the UK and then
across the Channel.

A small number of Pale Clouded Yellows tend to turn up on the S and SE coast of the UK
and remain in the coastal areas. This species is a resident of C. and SE Europe and a
migrant.

PALE CLOUDED YELLOW.

DINGY SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Page 12
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

This is the only skipper found in Ireland.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

In Ireland I have found them only in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo and Wicklow and treated as a
rare species here. Elsewhere in England many of the known colonies have vanished in the
past recent years due to new agricultural improvement. In Scotland I know only of three
small locations but I suggest that there may well be more yet to be discovered in 2006. In
flight the ID is difficult because the wings are just a grey blur and sometimes mistaken for a
day flying moth. ID when at rest may at times be also difficult because it looks like a
Grizzled Skipper. GRIZZLED SKIPPER

This species has more brown on the wings which can be variegated when fresh as well as
an oily sheen for the first few days as an adult. As they get older they lose scales from their
wings and become drab and pale. The habitat it likes best in spring from April and May
onwards, is areas where bird's foot trefoil, horseshoe vetch is found. When they are
discovered basking in sunlight they look like a moth. In late afternoon both sexes roost in
tall vegetation with their heads upwards and back to the sun set. The peak for flight is the
1st week in June and some may be double brooded the second and much smaller brood in
August. A few struggle into the second week of July. A colony may be no more than 50
adults in a good year. The flight is fast.

EGGS. These are easy to find on well known sites green coloured at first then after six days
turning an orange colour. Eggs are laid singly but there may be three or more close by on
new and fresh leaflets. After 2 weeks the eggs hatch and the small caterpillar spins silk
around two vetch leaves that forms a small tent. In the tent it lives and the larger the
caterpillar becomes a new larger tend has to be constructed. The colour of the caterpillar is
a grey green with a black shiny head. By mid August the caterpillar is fully grown and
makes a much larger tent in which it lives for 8 months before it becomes an adult. There is
no chrysalis until the following April and in May it emerges as an adult butterfly.

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Page 13
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

DINGY SKIPPER.

ESSEX SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

It should be noted that this southern skipper was discovered in Germany in 1808 and was
missed here in the UK and taken at that time as a Small Skipper. By 1880 naturalists in
England began to realize that they were a different species. Today, the problem of ID
between the Essex Skipper and the Small Skipper. The Essex shows glossy black
underneath the antennae while the undersides of the Small skipper antennae show a dull
orange brown colour. Such ID I suggest is carried out in the evening before the sun sets
where this butterfly will be roosting in groups though sometimes can be done during the
day. The Essex has also more pointed wings than the Small Skipper and with males the
black sex marks in the middle of the forewings. In the Small Skipper they show bolder and
at an angle.

FLIGHT. End of May to 1st week in August.

HABITAT. Grassy banks and meadows in SE England. The food plant is a number of
grasses, Cock's Foot, Creeping Soft Grass, Timothy, Tor Grass, and Wood Soft Brome.
Will not use Yorkshire Fog that Small Skippers seem to love. It likes well drained and tall
grasslands and not as thick that Small Skippers like. Chalk and Sandy soils. Found as far
north as The Wash but may well have spread and been mistaken as a Small Skipper.
Found also is Sussex and Hampshire and is spreading due to wild grasses along motorways
and trunk roads. The possibility of spread in hay being transported by road is another way
it could be spreading. Eggs that are still in hibernation can be found in some hay loads

Page 14
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

months later. In transporting such hay with eggs , scattering of eggs along the way is more
common than you think and therefore establishing new colonies.

EGGS. Has a thick and flattened shell which is inserted into a sheath in the grasses. The
caterpillar remains in the shell for up to 8 months and over-winters. Eggs are laid in strings
of 4 to 5 and when first laid are yellow. The caterpillar nibbles its way out of the shell and
starts to feed on young grass blades. It will spin 2 grass blades around itself making a 'tube'.
Best to look for such tubes in late June and note the 'V' shape damage on grass blades. The
caterpillar of this species has a yellow head with 3 brown lines while the caterpillar of the
Small Skipper has a pale green head. Essex Skipper chrysalises lasts around 3 weeks.

SEE SMALL SKIPPER. SMALL SKIPPER

GRIZZLED SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Not found in Ireland or Scotland and is now rare in the southern Yorkshire. Cotswolds
and Chilterns southwards in large sunny woods, chalk and limestone Downs. Dorset has
around 200 + colonies in 2005.

HABITAT AND HABITS. Very lush bushy areas on the edges of limestone and chalk
wood-lands. Also on railway track edges where there are wild strawberries. A small
butterfly that at first glance looks black and white with some rare aberrant male forms
having more white on the forewings than normal. The best time to see males is on a hot
sunny spring day while they are basking. The males are always alert at this time watching
out for other males and if spotted fighting tends to take place. Very aeronautics in flight
when two males meet. In flight they are a grey blur. Has a list of old and local names such
as 'Our Marsh fritillary'. 'Dandridge's Dark fritillary,' Spotted Skipper' and 'The Grizzle'.

Page 15
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

All the adults live in self contained colonies which are about 100+ in the more larger ones
known. Males like the bases of sunlit hills and sheltered hollows, on tracks and paths where
they can be seen twitching as the bask in sunlight.

THE EGGS. Bun shaped and laid singly almost always on wild strawberries, creeping
cinquefoil, tomentil, agrimony,and the suckers of black-berry (Bramble). Egg will hatch in
10 days the caterpillar living at first under a covering of silk. From here it will move out to
nibble on a fresh leaf close to its shelter. As it gets larger it makes new shelters to fit its body
over two months. Soon after that it descends to the ground where it makes a net of silk
where the chrysalis is formed.

LARGE SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Common in England and Wales and found in all rough coarse grasses. Getting to the
border areas of Scotland it begins to get rare. Not found in Ireland. This is another of the
'golden skippers' It has mottled rather than clear wings which helps in its ID. Old faded
Silver Spotted Skippers are also mistaken for Large Skippers.

SEE ID OF SILVER SMALL SKIPPER

HABITS.

There is only one generation of this skipper each year which lasts all summer and if the
spring is warm then they will emerge in May reaching a peak in June. Very few numbers
will survive into August or September. If you find any this late they look very battered and
worn. Found also in many gardens states that there is a colony close by out in a field or
grass verge. Such will have around 12+ adults but numbers are much higher in areas of
cleared but managed wood lands that have been left wild. It likes tall grassland and
sunshine and will be seen on 'patrol' in their own area. Such patrols start around 10.00am
to noon and the flight is slow while this is being done and just above the ground. This is
mainly to locate a female but the end detection is by scent only. From noon to around
4.00am this is the time for perching on a stem but in sunlight. Open sunny woods are a

Page 16
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

good place to look. The males will sit like this wings apart in the sun but will challenge any
passing insect if it gets too close. Males will fight with one another and at times it can be
violent. A female flying by will induce a courtship flight by the male.

EGGS. After mating the females rests and basks in sunlight but will take time out to lay
eggs under suitable tussock surfaces. Most of the eggs are laid on Cock's Foot but I have
also found eggs in Purple Moor Grass on acid soils. I suspect that eggs may also be laid in
Tor Grass and False Brome. Eggs are easy to find once you suspect they have been laid and
they are large as well as exposed. The caterpillar hatches out in 2 weeks, then warps a leaf
blade together and held in place with silk cords. Caterpillars live inside the tubes but feed
from time to time on the blade of grass. After a 4th skin shedding the caterpillar goes into
hibernation until the spring. In May it can be found, ugly to look at and has a blue green
body and black head. 2 more moults take place before forming a chrysalis and lasts 3
weeks before it emerges as an adult butterfly.

LARGE WHITE.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

The largest white butterfly in the UK that tend to infest all gardens and areas where there
are Brassica crops growing. Caterpillars are destructive eating plants down to a stalk and
leaving a smell on the plants or what is left of them, a smell of mustard oil. Not a butterfly
many like though in its own standing a beautiful butterfly. Also a migrant butterfly.

HABITS AND HABITATS.

There can be up to 3 generations each year and adults may be seen from as early as
February through to November depending on the weather. Mainly the first brood emerges
around the 2nd week of April and remains on the wing till mid June in some areas. The
springtime butterfly adults have grey on the wing tips rather than black. Numbers are
large in the second brood which are seen flying from July onwards. A 3rd brood may
follow in some areas in the Autumn. Great numbers emerge in Northern Europe, a few
million, and fly southwards to breed in central Europe though out own population stay in
the UK and Ireland. A few of these may well migrate to the Continent and I have no doubt
at all that we too get some immigrants from elsewhere. The UK species tend to fly north in
spring and there is I suggest not a cabbage patch that will not contain adults and
caterpillars. These butterflies can cross hundreds of miles of open sea during migration and
if the wind is in the right direction for them travel, at 10 mph. I have seen a raft of them
settle on a smooth sea near Tory Island in Donegal and fly off as the boat approached them
with no bother to their flight. A main band of immigrants reach the UK in high summer
coming from the NE as they fly SW and S. and can look in the distance like blowing snow if
there are great numbers and up to 6 million on a front. Once the immigrants reach here
they disperse and then seen later in one's and two's in all flowery habitats, including

Page 17
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

hedgerows and meadows. The females detect cabbage type plants via their antennae first
then land on a plant and test the plant surface forsinigrin which is the mustard oil they
prefer. 40 to 150 eggs are then laid on plants and site of choice. Once the eggs are laid she
leaves a chemical marker on the eggs to keep away other females who want to use the same
plant.

EGGS.

The eggs stand in small erect groups which are a pale yellow in colour at first but soon turn
orange. Each egg contain mustard oil which is thought to keep away caterpillar eating
animals and birds. Eggs are also laid on Nasturtiums. All the eggs will hatch within 10 days
and the caterpillars will remain in a band until their forth skin is shed. Great clusters of
such caterpillars produce mustard oil/gas which is a burning irritant in low doses and a
very lethal nerve poison if it is concentrated. Care, I suggest should be taken with small
children who are close by contaminated plants as there could well be a problem with their
eyes if they get any of the oil on their face. Some flies and a few wasps however will lay their
eggs in the bodies of caterpillars and their grubs feed on the body from inside out. A small
wasp, APANTELES GLOMERATUS . can lay up to 60 eggs inside the single body of a
caterpillar.

Vast numbers of caterpillars may be killed off if there is a plentiful supply or population of
this wasp. Later all the caterpillars will wander off to pupate and use any shelter or cover
they can find to do so. The chrysalises is speckled in colour, easy to find but still contain
mustard oils as a form of protection.

NOTES. Some populations of Large Whites may from time to time be infected with a virus
which kills off large numbers as it has done in the past. It first turned up in immigrants in
1955

LULWORTH SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

The smallest and darkest of all the skippers and found only in the very south of England on
The Downs and cliff tops with around 90 to a 100 breeding sites known at the moment.
This skipper is late in the season to emerge. Around May or early June is when they will be
observed in flight. The wings of the males are dun-coloured, tinged with olive brown while
the much smaller female has golden marks on each forewing.

Page 18
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

HABITAT. Grass meadows and banks which are damp the food plant being Brome Grass.
Also on sheltered tussock grass known as 'tor grass'. The female backs down as grass stem
and lays her eggs in sheaths which hatch in 3 weeks and the grubs hibernate almost at
once, spinning a cocoon around itself and the remains of the egg. In spring the small
caterpillar bores out and feeds on young grass shoots. The lifespan of adults is 10 days.

AREAS FOUND. Dorset and Devon.

NOTES. I found that this skipper likes grasses that are no higher than 60cm and only such
grasses as well as Marjoram that are growing in very sheltered areas along the coast of the
2 areas listed above. Does not like land that is grazed by farm animals and will be seen on
cliffs where tor grass grows even on ledges. This species is not a migrant so therefore its
spread to other possible breeding sites on the coast is limited. The North Downs of the Kent
Coast is ideal habitat but so far no Lulworth Skippers. It seems to prefer chalk and
limestone soils and may be found also on railway track edges that contain this type of
ballast like parts of the rail track that runs from Exeter to Exmouth. It was here in 1960
while in the Royal Marines I discovered by accident a very small colony nearLympstone.
Between Weymouth and Swanage have a good number of colonies and a large site east of
Lulworth Cove which is a MOD firing range. Around 400,000 adults emerge each spring
on Bindon Hill. In all there could well be over 1 million of these skippers emerging each
spring in these areas. Another group of colonies next thePurbeck coast but 2 miles inland
at the Purbeck Hills.

SILVER SPOTTED SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

The Silver Spotted Skipper is a limestone species but very rare and only found on the South
Downs. It is a late butterfly and around the first two weeks of August unless the summer
has been a hot one and it then may emerge in late July. At the moment there are 50+
colonies and 10 of these are reported as large. There is also one colony on an old rail track
in Somerset but the main areas are the Chilterns with 7 colonies in Hampshire, 8 in the
North Downs of Surrey. There is also 2 colonies in East Sussex, 1 very small colony
reported in Kent, Dorset and Wilshire.

This species in the past was also known as the 'Pearl Skipper' or the 'August Skipper'. It
was and is confused at times with the Large Skipper. There does seem to be real problems

Page 19
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

with ID.

ID. In the males each forewing has a black sex bar made up of scent glands but there are
no sex bands in females. The females are darker in colour but there is a noted colour
variant that has its undersides a much deeper green in adults.

HABITS. Will not fly over worked farmlands and one of the main reasons why it does not
be seen more in other parts of the UK. Also needs areas that have been grazed by rabbits.
It is reported it took around 15 years for this butterfly to cross theMeon Valley to form a
colony, the distance no more than 2 miles. Adults will live only for up to six days and do not
fly at all on very cloudy or wet days. Air temperature also plays a part because if it drops
below20'C (69'F) they don't move. They love basking in hot sunlight on paths andscree.
The flight is very rapid and they can dart forwards, backwards or sideways at a good
speed. Food plants for adults seemed to be stemless thistles, knapweed, yellow daisy family,
felwort.

EGGS. Laid in Sheep's Fescue and are white and easy to find once you know where to
look. Up to 10 eggs in each tuft is not uncommon though better found in early autumn as
the eggs tend to drop off and go into hibernation after that. The caterpillar is an ugly
brown-green maggot and feeds from the nest at new shoots and leaf tips. If alarmed the
caterpillar darts back into its nest and lies flat. Once fully grown the caterpillar then leaves
the nest and moves into denser cover of a tussock where it will pupate. Spins a cocoon at
ground level and lives as a chrysalis for around 2 weeks.

SEE LARGE SKIPPER. LARGE SKIPPER

SMALL SKIPPER.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Four of the Skipper's found in the UK are much smaller than this species and why it was
called that is beyond me because it is not 'small'. Both the Large Skipper were also known
in the past as the 'Spotless Hog' and the 'Cloudless Hog'. July is the best month to observe
this species but it is not found in Ireland. It will start to emerge around the 2nd week of
June and seen in flight to the 3rd week of August. There is only one generation each year.

HABITAT. Anywhere that Yorkshire Fog grows, a grass, where the females will lay their
eggs in a sheath down in the stems. Yorkshire Fog is found in all types of soil and this

Page 20
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

species likes much taller and denser grasses than the Essex Skipper. It also like woodland
glades and sunny woodland rides. A common summer butterfly in the south of England.

EGGS. The female flies slowly and she is easy to spot when she is seeking out an area of
grass in which to lay her eggs. The egg laying area must be tall grasses that are also
sheltered where 3 to 5 eggs are laid in each sheath. The eggs at first are white then turning
primrose yellow later and much rounder than that of the eggs of the Essex Skipper.
Hatching will take place in August, the caterpillar eating its way through the egg than spins
a silk cocoon around itself while still inside the grass sheath. It will stay like this until April
the next year then starts to feed on young grass shoots. By June it descends to the bottom of
the grass clump and spins a tent of leaves in which the chrysalis is formed which lasts
around 2 weeks. The head of the chrysalis has a blunt point and greenish in colour.

SEE ESSEX SKIPPER. ESSEX SKIPPER

SWALLOWTAIL.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Found only in the Norfolk Broads area of England and is a sub-species P. m.britannicus
this is a very rare butterfly of the UK. Once found in the Fenlands of England and sightings
made in Kent to Dorset. This is a much smaller species as to the size of the swallowtails in S.
Europe. The markings on the wings on the UK species are much darker also and live in self
contained colonies. Milk Parsley is the breeding plant of choice.

HABITS AND HABITAT.

Often seen skimming over open water in the Broads and is not a migrant here in the UK
though it is used to long flights. Found mainly between the rivers, Ant,Thurne, and Bure
and the Broads. Adults feed in the morning and late afternoon feeding on the nectar from
red campion, and other waterside flowers. Adult males spend the rest of their time during
the day on patrol around reedbeds and waterside tall plants in search of females. The
females fly up from cover to the males and mating takes place which could last for ours if

Page 21
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

you count the display flights they both do. The eggs then are laid in pre-selected and always
where there are milk parsley plants. After about 9 days+ the eggs hatch.

EGGS. Yellow green in colour when first laid then in six days + turn a dark brown colour.
When they hatch out the caterpillar nibble at the upper surface of leaves and look like small
bird droppings as a form of protection. This is no help when it comes to spiders and up to
70% of the caterpillars are killed before their first skin change. Later as they grow they are
no longer spider food but become the food of small birds that are busy feeding their own
young. At least two thirds of the remaining population is killed off mainly by reed buntings,
sedge warblers and at times, bearded tits. The larger caterpillar is well marked and does
not blend in well with its choice of habitat.

We do from time to time get 'visitors' of continental ' swallowtails coming across the
Channel and more so if there is a South warm wind blowing for a number of days. Reports
from Kent, Dorset and South Hampshire as well as on the Isle of Wright. This has been
reported as the sub-species P. m gorganus. It is doubtful if there would be any reports of
this visitor in cold summers.

WOOD WHITE.

HOME INDEX. BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Page 22
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

My study of the Wood White Butterfly in Ireland, mainly in Co. Down and Antrim as well
as a small colony in South Donegal from 1976 to 1990 give me a good insight into its natural
history therefore I was surprised when I came over here to England of how rare they are.
This is a small butterfly and rare as whites go in England. On the decline in some Welsh
woods where it was once common and slowly increasing in other areas it is well worth a
two year study here in England starting this year as 2006 research is needed badly of
colony numbers.

HABITS AND HABITATS.

Wood whites have and live in self contained colonies but don't be surprised if you find the
odd male well away from the breeding areas as this is a common factor in some areas.
There may well be as little as 12 adults in a colony and in a few areas the most common
spring butterfly. It likes ancient woodlands, does not do well at all in conifer woods and the
first adults can be seen around the 18th of May if the weather is not cold and wet. The peak
I found for this species in Ireland was the 2nd week in June but from then on its all
downhill with few if any making it into July. However in the south of England if it has been
a long hot summer there may well be a second brood which emerge in August, around the
16th to 18th. This late brood will show males with much smaller wings but darker wingtips.
Males in spring will start flying 3 feet above the ground, patrolling woodland rides and
firebreaks and are attracted to any small white object that may look like a female. Female
wood-whites are seen less often because they do not fly as much as the males do. If spotted
the females will be feeding on bugle, ragged robin or tall birds foot trefoils though I have
found them on other spring flowers as well. The males feed little on nectar and can be
found more often taking in much needed minerals from muddy edges of puddles and pools
when the weather is hot and dry. I have at times discovered over 10 males at such puddles
which were also easy to approach. The lifespan of the adult is 2 to 3 weeks then die of old
age but not before they attempt breeding.

EGGS.

Females will lay between 25 and 35 eggs which are laid singly on plants like yellow meadow
vetching, bitter vetch, tufted vetch, marsh and greater birds -foot trefoils. A female seems to
be careful of what plant species she chooses to lay her eggs and also in partly shaded areas.
The egg is bottle shaped and can be found in June which hatch in 10 to 20 days but many
will have already been lost to predators and a very tiny parasitic wasp,Trichogrammna.
When hatched out the caterpillars start feeding at the shoot tip and work there way down

Page 23
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

it. It is this time also that small birds are looking for food for their young so many
caterpillars end up in the stomach of a nestling somewhere. Such caterpillars at the later
stage are green coloured with a yellow stripe along the sides. The chrysalis is hard to find
but if you do find one you will see the veins and edges are pink coloured against an almost
see through background.

NOTES.

Because coppicing of woods has declined so has the habitat for this species so for
management areas of woodland there needs to be good rotation planning in some areas. It
likes scrubby re-growth in sheltered areas and because some of this type of management
has been carried out in some woods there are in 2005 around 95 wood-white colonies in
England and Wales. The species I studied in Ireland was L. s.juvernica that showed a
green tinge to the under-wings and I have even found them in old overgrown quarry sites
as well as along limestone areas that contain hazel bushes and new re-growth areas.

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:35

Ronnie Carleton 2006 (c) 01/12/2006

Ronnie Carleton.

Page 24
 BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:34

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:30

Ronnie Carleton 2006. (c)

BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:29

Ronnie Carleton (c) 01/12/2006 08:27

Page 25
BUTTERFLIES OF THE UK AND IRELAND

Ronnie Carleton (c) 2006

Page 26