UK Butterflies

And the answers are Swallowtail, Silver-spotted Skipper, Cryptic Wood White, Silver-washed Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy, Silver-studded Blue

And this week's challenge is to identify the species whose larvae are represented here - one from each of the 6 butterfly families ... the final two in a reply to this post!

📣 New paper 🎉 Proud to have helped with this nice study by @wlangdon12.bsky.social showing a trade-off between nutritional quality & microclimate of host plants for Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas). Here in England, they choose warmth over nutrition resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

And the answers are ... Swallowtail (Papilionidae), Dingy Skipper (Hesperiidae), Orange-tip (Pieridae), White Admiral (Nymphalidae), Duke of Burgundy (Riodinidae), Brown Hairstreak (Lycaenidae)

and the final two ... :)

Here's a random selection of butterfly eggs - 1 from each of the 6 families (Papilionidae, Hesperiidae, Pieridae, Nymphalidae, Riodinidae, Lycaenidae). Having spent some time looking at them 'up close' I can only conclude that they are really quite beautiful! How many can you identify? Larvae next!

Our most recent review, by Harry E. Clarke, of Butterflies of the Western Palaearctic (volume 1) can now be found at www.dispar.org/reference.ph...

As well as seeing adult butterflies coming out of hibernation today (Peacock and Brimstone for me!), I also enjoyed finding several Marsh Fritillary larval webs, with larvae taking their first nibbles of Devil's-bit Scabious, & communally basking to raise their body temperature, which aids digestion

Still time to grab a spot on this superb trip. It makes for a lovely way to begin your spring butterfly watching campaign...
greenwings.co/our-holidays...

A donation from this and *all* our butterfly tours also goes to support the conservation work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social too.

False Apollo

Southern Festoon

Scarce Swallowtail

Grecian Copper

With temperatures on the rise, I'm looking forward to a 'spring break' in Northern Greece with @greenwingstours.bsky.social (greenwings.co/our-holidays...). Some photos from last year, a trip that led to Martin Partridge's interesting article on the False Apollo: www.sbbt.org.uk/latest-news/....

Here’s a Swallowtail larva exposing its ‘osmeterium’, an organ found in the 1st segment. Victorian entomologists remarked on its ‘pungent smell’, similar to rotting pineapple. Having found a bottle of pineapple juice left in my car (courtesy of a grandson) I can confirm that this is absolutely true!

A review by Pete Smith of the most recent book on European butterflies: Butterflies of Britain and Western Europe and their Caterpillars! www.dispar.org/reference.ph...

Nice find, Penny! Any of our hibernators (that overwinter as adults) might 'show themselves' in suitable conditions.

Congratulations to Mark Searle, winner of the 2025 UK Butterflies Photo Competition, with his image of a Dingy Skipper - clearly an inappropriate name for a butterfly that can appear quite beautiful! Winning entries can be seen at: www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/competition_...

A refreshingly positive 'good news' story by M.S. Warren, S. Rich, and N. Haywood regarding the fortunes of the Silver-studded Blue over 50 years at Studland Heath National Nature Reserve, Dorset, UK. Detailed article at www.dispar.org/reference.ph... @martinswarren.bsky.social

The UK Butterflies 2025 Photography Competition is now open for entries and closes on November 30th. The winning photos will be announced in early December and the overall winner will receive a signed Richard Lewington print. See www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewto... for more info. Good luck!

The UK Butterflies 2025 Photography Competition is now open for entries and closes on November 30th. The winning photos will be announced in early December and the overall winner will receive a signed Richard Lewington print. See www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewto... for more info. Good luck!

Given the number of sightings of Marsh Fritillary away from their core sites, as well as personally seeing them fly through woodland, I’ve always thought that they disperse further than people think and this study is a step to proving that theory!

Front cover of the European Butterfly Red List, showing Polyommatus humedasae. The report can be downloaded at https://www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?name=red-list-butterflies-2025

The new European Butterfly Red List is published today, with worrying findings. Over 1/4 (28%) of Europe’s 442 species are threatened with extinction or are close to being so. The situation is far worse for our 148 endemic species, 40% are now threatened or nearly so www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

It also has a Donate button if you want to support our work saving butterflies and moths across Europe

Check out our new website, packed with new features, including updated project and EU policy pages + butterfly species pages with all known hostplants courtesy of Harry Clarke and downloadable country lists. Big thanks to Peter Eeles @ukbutterflies.bsky.social for all his help www.bc-europe.eu

"Only a fool will go chasing a male Orange-tip in the heat of the day!" (Paul Atkin) ... we're having a debate at UK Butterflies that will allow us to create a 'Guide to Responsible Butterfly Photography' so do join the conversation at www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/viewto.... 📷 Neil Freeman

Hi Richard - the key diagnostic is found on the upperside hindwing although, based on your photo, I'd suggest that this is L. maera which has a paler underside (and is larger) than L. petropolitana.

Another way of thinking about it is, in the absence of Cotesia glomerata, the numbers of Large White would get out of control and you wouldn't have any cabbage with your Sunday roast 😀 These types of relationships are so important to maintaining a delicate balance! Great photos of the parasitoid!

I believe that the two subspecies can be separated based on appearance - at least, britannicus can be separated from whatever subspecies is found near us in mainland Europe (there's some dispute about this!)

Might be worth rearing it through for more certainty regarding subspecies

I can't find any mention of Fennel being used in the wild by ssp. britannicus, although it will take it in captivity. The location would suggest britannicus and this should be documented (e.g. in Ent. Rec.)

Magpie moth

Nice find! This looks like an intermediate form between helice and the normal form. All abs are listed at www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/aberrations...., but there's no obvious match.