Hidden Butterflies

[Jack Harrison]

The Ditchling Black Hairstreaks remained undetected until (I think) 2018. So could anything else be hiding in plain sight (or in minute numbers)?
My possibilities.

Southern Small White
Mountain GV White
Lesser Purple Emperor
Coppers various
Arran Brown
Cardinal [Fritillary]

Jack

[Matsukaze]

Idas Blue and various Pyrgus must be possibilities.

[millerd]

For such hidden gems to exist would mean that either:
1. They have been here all along, and therefore have been part of the British butterfly fauna for a very long time without being spotted by anyone (as with the Scottish populations of Chequered Skippers for example), or:
2. They have been deliberately introduced (perhaps in the days when there would have been no regulations around official/unofficial introductions). This could be native species relocated (as is the case with the Sussex Black Hairstreaks I believe) or a non-native species (remember the Dorset Maps a few years back?), or:
3. They have migrated/dispersed here in sufficient numbers to sustain a population. With this category you have to bear in mind that just because a warming climate may now make Southern England perfectly hospitable to certain continental species (even some that are present along the North Sea/English Channel/Atlantic coasts), these species may have no inclination to cross even such a relatively narrow stretch of water. They may have spread slowly north or west across Europe, but a few metres at a time across suitable bits of land - not a stretch of sea.

I would say therefore that the potential list of species here is really not going to be a very long one...

Dave

[David M]

...I would say therefore that the potential list of species here is really not going to be a very long one...

Agreed. We British are amongst the most observant in the world, so I can't reconcile myself with there being any existing native species that haven't yet been discovered. That said, I'm sure some of the less 'visible' butterflies (White Letter, Purple, Brown Hairstreak, etc) might be lurking in places as yet unreported, and it may even be true that Southern Small Whites have reached Britain in small numbers already, only that no-one who can identify them positively has yet to see any.

[bugboy]

I would have to agree with there being no new species left to find unless geneticists discover another species complex like the Wood Whites. Apart from anything else there's not much countryside left where new species could be hiding . The only exception I can think of to this would be if there are Mountain Ringlets secreted somewhere in the Irish wilderness, which if they do exist could well be distinct enough from mainland ones to warrant new species level assignment. Of course there is still the small question mark over the Arran Brown. On the other hand, like the Sussex Black Hairstreaks, it is still likely to find new populations of existing species either naturally occurring or, (again like the Sussex BH) deliberate introductions. The distribution in Scotland of the Chequered Skipper is almost certainly under recorded for example.

[David M]

...Apart from anything else there's not much countryside left where new species could be hiding..

An obvious reality, BB, but it's still painful to read.

[Matsukaze]

I can't imagine Lesser Purple Emperor or Cardinal would go undetected here for long: ilia is the kind of insect that one stumbles across, usually when not looking for it, and seems to be a lot less retiring and uncooperative than iris. Being large, bright, and out of the ordinary, it is the sort of insect that naturalists notice. The same is true of the Cardinal - people tend to take a good look at large fritillaries with a touch of greenish-silverishness about them. I can't imagine it coping with the British climate either - yes, there are populations some way up the west coast of France, but this is an area with remarkably high, Mediterranean levels of sunshine.

[Padfield]

I agree with the general feeling here. It is highly improbable, though not impossible, that some currently recognised species (rather than a cryptic or yet-to-be split species) has persisted undiscovered in the British Isles for any length of time. There is just so little wilderness left, and so many skilled and well travelled observers with an increasingly comprehensive knowledge of European and world butterflies. This is one case, however, when I would truly love to be wrong!

That said, I have looked for spring large tortoiseshells in Suffolk woods ever since I photographed one near Woodbridge in 1985. Against all the evidence, I cling to the belief they might have been lurking here at low density, unnoticed ...

Guy

[Jack Harrison]

I read that Purple Emperor has been confirmed in Norfolk.

https://www.facebook.com/ButterflyConservationNorfolk/

Hiding in plain sight or a recent arrival? I suspect the former. Foxley Wood is between Fakenham and Dereham in the northwest of the county.
Of course, it is already suspected to occur (but no definite proof) in the Holt/Sheringham area.

Jack