Butterflies come in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes and patterns and will all soon be fluttering around your garden in search of flowers rich in nectar. Some species such as the Peacock are very easy to identify, yet, many species can be mistaken for similar looking species. Here is Acer Ecology’s simple guide to becoming an excellent butterfly expert! (photo credit: Steffen239 on Visual Hunt)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
The red band on the forewing with a few white spots on the wing tips in addition to a red fringe on the hind wing.
Differences from similar species
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) – Majority of the wing colour is an orange-pink with black markings on the front tips and scattered around the edges of the hind wings.
White Admiral (Limenitis Camilla) – Black wings with white edging and white banding across the mid wing.
Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)
This butterfly is a bright light blue colour across both the body and wings. It also has a thin black/brown margin along the wing edges and a white fringe.
Differences from similar species
Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) – Pale blue underside with small dark spots. Also sometimes a heavier brown/black margin on the forewings.
Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus) – Black lines around the white wing margins to create a chequered effect.
Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
This butterfly has an orange coloured body with thick light brown wing margins. It has twin black eyespots on the forewings that have white pupils.
Differences between similar species
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) – Mostly light brown with a small section of orange of the forewing with no orange on the hindwing. Only has one eye spot on each forewing with a white pupil.
Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) – A darker shade of brown across entire body/wings with a narrow white wing margin. Eyespots are on the underside of the forewing that vary in number and are black with yellow rings around them.
Green-veined White (Pieris napi)
Wings are white with a single black spot on the forewings in addition to small black margins on the wing tips. The main feature is the criss-cross of green veins to the underside of the hindwing.
Differences between similar species
Small White (Pieris rapae) – Up to 5cm wingspan. Small black tips on the forewings with one or two black wing spots.
Large White (Pieris brassicae) – Up to 7cm wingspan with a thicker/ larger black tip and two eyespots on the forewings.
Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)
This butterfly has an orange coloured wing base with black and yellow markings on the forewing and a white spot on the wing tip. It also has blue spots surround the margins on both the forewing and hindwing.
Differences between similar species
Comma (Polygonia c-album) – Wings are brown/orange with black spots and a brown wing margin. It has unmistakable ragged edges to the wings. White ‘comma’ shape on the brown undersides.
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) – Brown margin to forewing and brown hindwing has an orange band with white edges along both wing sets.
Butterflies are one of the most welcomed garden visitors and there are very easy ways to attract them even to small gardens. There are certain plant species that encourage butterflies into the garden including buddleia, goldenrod, lilac, milkweed and snapdragon. Read our other article for tips on encouraging wildlife into your garden.
There are other ways to help butterflies including the Big Butterfly Count, a nationwide butterfly survey. You can take part by simply counting butterflies in your garden for 15 minutes between the 20th of July to the 11th of August.
Our licensed ecologists are experienced in a range of ecology survey types, European Protected Species licensing and mitigation design and implementation.
For more information about bat surveys or any of our other ecological services call us on 029 2065 0331 or email enquiries@acerecology.co.uk.
