Lepidoptera - UK and European Butterflies and Moths

Here are some of the butterflies you will see in the countryside in many parts of the UK and Europe. There are links to larger pictures and information about each species. Also included are a few lovely butterflies from further afield.

Nymphalidae:
Monarch Butterfly Danaus plexippus	Southern White Admiral Limenitis reducta	White Admiral Limenitis camilla	Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta	Peacock Butterfly Inachis io	Two-tailed Pasha Charaxes jasius
Painted Lady Cynthia cardui	Small Tortoiseshel Aglais urticae	Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros	Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa	Comma Butterfly Polygonia c-album	Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Marbled White Melanargia gala thea	Spanish Marbled White Melanargia ines	Southern Gatekeeper Pyronia cecilia	Gatekeeper Butterfly Pyronia tithonus	Pearly Heath Coenonympha arcania	Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Provençal Fritillary Melitaea deione	Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia	Wall Brown Lasiommata megera	Ringlet Butterfly Aphantopus hyperantus	Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanillae	Caribbean Buckeye Junonia evarete
Papilionidae:
Common Swallowtail Papilio machaon	Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius	Spanish Festoon Zerynthia rumina
Lycaenidae:
Common Blue Polyommatus icarus	Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas	Silver-studded Blue Plebeius argus	Large Copper Lycaena dispar	Lorquin's Blue Cupido lorquinii	Small Blue Cupido minimus
Chequered Blue Scolitantides orion	Blue-spot Hairstreak Satyrum esculi	False Ilex Hairstreak Satyrum spini
Pieridae:
Small White Artogeia rapae	Clouded Yellow Colias croceus	Green-veined White Artogeia napi	Orange-tip Butterfly Anthocharis cardamines	Black-veined White Aporia crataegi	Green-striped White Euchloe belemia
Cleopatra Butterfly Gonepteryx Cleopatra	Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae	Small Sulphur Eurema lisa	Large White Pieris brassicae		Eastern Dappled White Euchloe ausonia
Hesperiidae:				Riodinidae:
Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris				Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina

Moths:

Please forgive gaps in the moths section - we are continually updating this section of the website

Adelidae (Longhorn Moths)
Longhorn Moth Nemophora degeerella
Arctiidae (Tiger Moths):
Cinnabar Moth Tyria jacobaea
Choreutidae		Coleophoridae
Common Nettle- tap Moth Anthophila fabriciana		Gorse Case-bearer Coleophora albicosta	Pistol Case-bearer Coleophora anatipennella	Coleophora follicularis Coleophora follicularis	Coleophora peribenanderi Coleophora peribenanderi
Ethmiidae
Ethmia bipunctella Ethmia bipunctella
Gracillariidae			Gelechiidae
Red Birch Slender Caloptilia betulicola	Caloptilia alchimiella Caloptilia alchimiella	Calybites Phasianipennella Calybites Phasianipennella	Athrips mouffetella Athrips mouffetella	Metzneria lappella Metzneria lappella	Anacampsis blattariella Anacampsis blattariella
Srcobipalpa costella Scrobipalpa costella
Hepialidae (Swift Moths):
Map-winged Swift Moth Hepialus fusconebulosa	Common Swift Moth Hepialus lupulinus	Orange Swift Moth Hepialus sylvina	Goat Moth Cossus cossus	Gold Swift Moth Hepialus hecta
Ghost Moth Male Hepialus humuli humuli	Ghost Moth Female Hepialus humuli humuli	Leopard Moth Zeuzera pyrina	Reed Leopard Moth Phragmateacia castaneae




Limacodidae		Oecophoridae
Triangle Moth Heterogenea asella		White Streak Moth Pleurota bicostella	Carcina quercana Carcina quercana	Diurnea lipsiella Diurnia lipsiella	Semioscopis steinkellneriana Semioscopis steinkellneriana
Tineidae
White-headed Monopis Monopis monachella	Tinea semifulvella Tinea Semifulvella	Tinea trinotella Tinea trinotella	Carpet Moth/ Tapestry Moth Trichophaga tapetzella
Yponomeutidae
Argyresthia albistria Argyresthia albistria
Zygaenidae (Burnet Moths):
Five-spot Burnet Moth Zygaena trifolii	Six-spot Burnet Moth Zygaena filipendulae	Transparent Burnet Moth Zygaena purpuralis	Forester Moth Adscita statices	Cistus Forester Moth Adscita geryon	Narrrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet Zygaena lonicerae

Studying butterflies and moths...

Life Cycle

Despite some obvious differences between many of the insects that we call butterflies and those that we call moths, there is no real scientific basis for separating the two groups, and lepidopterists (those who study this insect group) treat them as a single order.

Some obvious features of many of the butterflies are their bright colours and their habit of flying by day and resting with their wings closed vertically above their bodies. Most moths are dully coloured, nocturnal insects and hold their wings flat or in a ridge shape over their bodies when at rest. But there are exceptions to these convenient 'rules': burnet moths, for example, are very brightly coloured and they fly mainly during the day.

In Britain there are about 2500 species of butterflies and moths, with moths greatly outnumbering butterflies. Looking beyond the UK, across the world some 150,000 species of butterflies and moths have been identified, and no doubt there are many more still to be discovered.

The eggs are laid on the leaves of plants suited to the needs of the particular species. Some prefer nettles or docks; others may need specific flowers or the leaves of a particular tree. The larvae hatch after a few weeks and begin feeding.

After a few months the larva, or caterpillar, is fully grown and ready to pupate. It then turns into a chrysalis. It is in this state that many species spend the winter, although some hibernate as larvae and others do so as winged adults. The cycle begins again the following year with a new generation of butterflies and moths laying their eggs.

We photograph buterflies in the wild, without catching them and, if possible, without disturbing them from their normal patterns of behaviour. If you feel gthe need to capture specimens for close study, a large net is the best way to catch day-flying butterflies. They can then be studied and photographed before releasing them. In the early evening, moths can be caught in the same way, but once it gets dark this is not very practical. A lamp, preferably an ultra-violet one built in to a trap, does the job with the minimum of effort. We pack ours with pieces of egg boxes among which the moths soon settle down. On releasing moths from a trap it is important to disperse them; otherwise, the birds will have a feast and your location might be seriously depleted of some moth species.

Butterfly Information Sources

The pictures and text on the First Nature butterfly and moth pages are the results of our own observations, notes and photography in Britain and Ireland, on mainland Europe, in North America and South America, and to a limited extent also Asia. We have also learned much from the published research and Web resources produced by many other organisations and individual enthusiasts who have studied butterflies and moths, and we wish to acknowledge our reliance on such expertise.

Additional Butterfly Information on the Web

More specialist information on British, Irish, European mainland and American butterflies can be found on these superb websites:

UK Butterflies, by Peter Eeles

British Butterflies, by Stephen Cheshire

Learn About Butterflies, by Adrian Hoskins

UK Leps, by Reg Fry

Butterfly Conservation -

Butterfly Ireland - Dublin Naturalists' Field Club

Butterflies of Ireland

European Butterflies, by Matt Rowlings

European Butterfly Page, by Guy Padfield

Captain's European Butterfly Guide, by Simon Coombes

Butterflies of France, by Roger Gibbons

Butterflies in Italy, by Robin Fox

Butterflies of Bulgaria, by Zdravko Kolev

California Butterfly Monitoring, by Dr Arthur (Art) Shapiro

Butterflies and Moths of North America - Butterfly and Moth Information Network

Butterflies of America, by Jonathan P. Pelham / Butterflies of America Foundation

Books and other Printed Resources

Asher. J., Warren, M., Fox, R., Harding, P., Jeffcoat, G., Jeffcoat, S.
(2001) The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain & Ireland, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Carter, D.
(1982) Butterflies and Moths of Britain and Europe. Pan Books, London.

Easterbrook, M.
(1987) Butterflies of the British Isles: The Nymphalidae, Shire Natural History No 19, Aylesbury.

Easterbrook, M.
(1988) Butterflies of the British Isles: The Lycaenidae, Shire Natural History No 24, Aylesbury.

Easterbrook, M.
(1989) Butterflies of the British Isles: The Pieridae, Shire Natural History No 50, Aylesbury.

Fox, R., Asher. J., Brereton. T., Roy, D & Warren, M.
(2006) The State of Butterflies in Britain & Ireland, Pisces, Oxford.

Fox, R., Warren, M., Brereton, T. M., Roy, D. B. & Robinson, A.
(2010) A new Red List of British Butterflies. Insect Conservation and Diversity.

Fox, R., Warren, M & Brereton, T.
(2007) New Red List of British Butterflies. Butterfly Conservation, Wareham.

Harding, J. M.
(2008) Discovery Irish Butterflies & their Habitats.

Hofmann, H., Marktanner, T.
(2001) Butterflies and Moths of Britain & Europe. HarperCollins, London.

May, P. R.
(2003) Larval Foodplants of the Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. The Amateur Entomologists' Society, Kent.

Moucha, J.
(1985) A Colour Guide to Familiar Butterflies Caterpillars and Chrysalides.

Newland, D. E.
(2006) Butterflies in Britain. Wild Guides, Hampshire.

Newman, L.H.
(1968) The Complete British Butterflies in Colour.

Porter, J.
(1997) The Colour Identification Guide to Caterpillars of the British Isles, Viking,
Harmondsworth.

Riley, A. M.
(2007) British and Irish Butterflies: the Complete Identification, Field and Site Guide to the Species, Subspecies and Forms, Brambleby Books, Luton. ISBN: 978-0-9553928-0-1

Sterry, P. Photographic Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Europe
New Holland Publishers Ltd; 2nd Revised edition edition (1 May 2001) Language English ISBN-10: 1843302659 ISBN-13: 978-1859747308

Tolman, T., Lewington, R.
(1997) Butterflies of Britain & Europe. Harper Collins, London. ISBN-13: 978-0007242344

Britain's Butterflies: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Britain and Ireland (Second edition, fully revised and updated) (Britain's Wildlife) [Illustrated] [Paperback] D. E. Newland D. E. Newland (Author) IISBN-13: 978-1903657300 Princeton University Press; Second edition (16 Aug 2010)

Butterfly Conservation...

Lepidoptera - UK and European Butterflies and Moths

Nymphalidae:

Papilionidae:

Lycaenidae:

Pieridae:

Hesperiidae:

Riodinidae:

Moths:

Adelidae (Longhorn Moths)

Arctiidae (Tiger Moths):

Choreutidae

Coleophoridae

Ethmiidae

Gracillariidae

Gelechiidae

Hepialidae (Swift Moths):

Limacodidae

Oecophoridae

Tineidae

Yponomeutidae

Zygaenidae (Burnet Moths):

Studying butterflies and moths...

Life Cycle

Butterfly Information Sources

Additional Butterfly Information on the Web

Books and other Printed Resources