UK Butterflies species list

[Pete Eeles]

When I first created UK Butterflies, I used the species list from the Butterfly Conservation website. Now the website has changed - so has the list! For example Geranium Bronze, Large Chequered Skipper and even Large Copper are no longer listed! So ... I've decided that we (as a community) need to agree on the list that *we* want to see on UK Butterflies.

One authoritative source is, of course, "The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland" edited by Emmet and Heath. In this volume they list every species that had ever been seen, or rumoured to have been seen, in GB and Ireland. This includes really "strange" species such as the Fiery Skipper (2 captured in 1820), Dappled White (4 British specimens) and The Julia (1 captured in 1936) - species that aren't really considered to be British.

I've gone through their list and believe that we should make mention of:

- Resident species (obviously!)
- Resident species that are now extinct (Black-veined White, Large Copper, Large Blue)
- Immigrants that migrate under their own steam (Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Clouded Yellow, Bath White, Berger's Clouded Yellow, Pale Clouded Yellow, Long-tailed Blue, Short-tailed Blue, Camberwell Beauty, Monarch, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Swallowtail ssp. gorganus)
- Deliberate introductions that went on to breed (Large Blue, Large Copper, Map)
- Accidental introductions that went on to breed (Geranium Bronze, Large Chequered Skipper)

The "problem species" that I think warrant further discussion are:
- Geranium Bronze
- Large Chequered Skipper
- American Painted Lady (believed to be an extremely rare immigrant)
- Apollo (a very occasional natural immigrant - but possibly accidentally imported)
- Scarce Swallowtail (a very occasional natural immigrant - but possibly accidentally imported)

So - all thoughts welcome!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Here are my thoughts, which err on the inclusive side:

Geranium bronze: must be represented on the site. Although it is not likely to be a true native in the near future, and never migrates naturally, it is an insect that people might well seek information about. DEFRA has a page dedicated to exterminating it so I think we gentler folk should have a page honouring it!

Large chequered skipper: this is not currently a British butterfly and so no one could really complain if it were removed. However, it does have its place historically (on Jersey) and may well have a place in the future. I would leave the page as it is.

Ameican painted lady: there are interesting historical records of this butterfly in England (there is a photo of an early specimen in Ford) and I have seen a vagrant indivdual myself in Portugal, so I think it is worth representing it on UK butterflies. I suspect there might be more records if more people knew what to look for.

Apollo: as a southerner I've never expected to encounter this species in Britain, but the Scots should be aware of it as an extremely rare visitor. I doubt it will ever breed in Scotland and it is not normally a migrant, but I would have no objection to it featuring on our pages.

Scarce swallowtail: again, there seem to be historical records of this butterfly and it really is not at all scarce in Europe, so it is something people should be aware of. Perhaps we should have a separate section for these exceptional immigrants.

I would add another contentious species with a history to your list of 'problem' species, Pete - the arran brown (Erebia ligea). Specimens exist, purporting to have been taken on Arran, and I would say there is a distinct possibility it was once a British butterfly.

Guy

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks for the input Guy,

I'm tempted to have an "Other ..." section at the end of the listing to represent all of the species that have been observed at one point or another, together with some information on these sightings.

I'll probably add American Painted Lady, and leave the rest of the list as-is.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Martin]

I'm probably at the other end of the scale from Guy, thinking that only butterflies that live and breed here year in - year out ( reintroduced or not), should be called British butterflies. I think that there should be separate lists for "Migrant", "Rare Migrant" and "Extinct" insects.

My 2p's worth...

Martin.

[Rogerdodge]

To my mind, there are 4 categories-
1/ Resident
2/ Regular Migrant
3/ Extinct/Rare Vagrant
4/ Accidental/Release

Below is my list, I am sure that many species can be shifted from one category to another however!

Resident
Chequered Skipper
Small Skipper
Essex Skipper
Lulworth Skipper
Silver-Spotted Skipper
Large Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Grizzled Skipper
The Swallowtail
Wood White
Real's Wood White
Clouded Yellow
The Brimstone
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Orange-tip
Green Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Purple Hairstreak
White-letter Hairstreak
Black Hairstreak
Small Copper
Small Blue
Silver-studded Blue
Brown Argus
Northern Brown Argus
Castle Eden Argus
Common Blue
Chalk Hill Blue
Adonis Blue
Holly Blue
Large Blue
Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
White Admiral
Purple Emperor
Red Admiral
Painted Lady
Small Tortoiseshell
The Peacock
The Comma
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Marsh Fritillary
Glanville Fritillary
Heath Fritillary
Speckled Wood
The Wall
Small Mountain Ringlet
Scotch Argus
Marbled White
The Grayling
The Gatekeeper
Meadow Brown
The Ringlet
Small Heath
Large Heath

Regular Migrants
Scarce Swallowtail
Pale Clouded Yelow
Berger's Clouded Yellow
Bath White
Long-tailed Blue
Short-tailed Blue
Mazarine Blue
Large Tortoiseshell
Camberwell Beauty
Queen of Spain Fritillary
The Monarch

Extinct/Rare Vagrant
Large Chequered Skipper
The Appollo
Black-veined White
Large Copper
Americaan Painted Lady
European Map
Arran Brown

Accidental/Release
Fiery Skipper
Mallow Skipper
Oberthur's Grizzled Skipper
Small Appollo
Spanish Festoon
Southern Festoon
Tiger Swallowtail
Moorland Clouded Yellow
The Cleopatra
Dappled White
Slate Flash
Geranium Bronze
Scarce Copper
Sooty Copper
Purple-shot Copper
Purple-edged Copper
Lang's Short-tailed Blue
Turquoise Blue
Green-underside Blue
The Julia
Albin's Hampstead Eye
Blue Pansy
The Zebra
Small Brown Shoemaker
Indian Red Admiral
Scarce Tortoiseshell
Weaver's Fritillary
Aphrodite Fritillary
Niobe Fritillary
Mediterranean Fritillary
Spotted Fritillary
Large Wall
Almond-eyed Ringlet
Woodland Grayling
The Hermit
False Grayling

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks all. It's made me think what question I'm actually asking! But let's continue with the category thread. In terms of species "that should be included in the UK Butterflies website" (i.e. they have a data sheet!), I currently assume that the following categories should be included. However, I think some are "Core" and some are "Other" (and this is a simple distinction to separate the "definites" from "the rest").

1. Residents (this now includes Red Admiral and Clouded Yellow). I'd place Large Tortoiseshell in this category because I'm an optimist These are in the Core section.

2. Extinct species (this includes Large Copper, Mazarine Blue, Black-veined White, Large Blue). These are in the Core section.

3. Deliberate reintroductions of extinct species (this includes Large Blue). Since this only includes the Large Blue, this is in the Core section.

4. Deliberate introductions that went on to breed (this includes Map). I think this is of historical interest and should therefore be included. These are in the Other section.

5. Accidental introductions that went on to breed (this includes Large Chequered Skipper, since Jersey lies within the British Isles, which is the geographic scope of UK Butterflies, and Geranium Bronze). These are in the Other section.

6. Migrants (this includes Camberwell Beauty, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Monarch, Pale Clouded Yellow, Berger's Clouded Yellow, Short-tailed Blue, Long-tailed Blue, Bath White). The latter species have always, historically, been included in books etc. These are in the Core section.

Most others listed in this thread are, to a large degree, considered "one offs", as well-documented in "The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland" by Emmet and Heath. I could add an "Other ..." section to capture such records (and may well do) but I don't think they warrant any significant mention, and probably not a data sheet describing their lifecycle stages in detail etc. etc.

This leaves the following "tricky" species:

American Painted Lady
Scarce Swallowtail
The Apollo
Arran Brown

I've already convinced myself that the American Painted Lady should be included as a migrant. It is generally accepted that the butterfly is an immigrant, as stated in Emmet and Heath. I'd therefore add this species in the Core section.

I've read (several times now!) the accounts for the other 3 and could go "either way" as to whether they should, or should not, be included. However, since there are interesting historical records, I propose all 3 get added into the "Other" section.

How I distinguish between "Core" and "Other" is TBD. But the "Other" species would include the following, which I'm much happier about because I've always thought of Geranium Bronze and the like as "not core"!

Apollo
Arran Brown
Geranium Bronze
Large Chequered Skipper
Map
Scarce Swallowtail

This "feels right" to me

Thoughts?

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

Right - I've now implemented this

So - on the home page you'll see "Primary" species and "Secondary" species listed, with an explanation of the difference.

All comments welcome - together with photos of the 4 new species listed - Apollo, American Painted Lady, Arran Brown and Scarce Swallowtail.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Padfield]

Well done, Pete! If everyone turned thoughts into actions as fast as you things might actually get done in the world!!

Guy

[Pete Eeles]

If only the rest of the world had rainy Saturdays

Thanks Guy!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Bryan H]

Control freak!

Mind you, tis your site!



Bryan

[Charles Nicol]

Right - I've now implemented this

All comments welcome - together with photos of the 4 new species listed - Apollo, American Painted Lady, Arran Brown and Scarce Swallowtail.

Cheers,

- Pete

are these any use Pete ? ( they were taken in Corfu in August )

[Pete Eeles]

Absolutely! Thanks Charles. Do you have higher-res versions? The images on the website are typically 750 x 750. No worries if not - I'll use what you've posted here. Otherwise please email me at pete@ukbutterflies.co.uk

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

Control freak!

Mind you, tis your site!



Bryan

Ha ha! Anyway - if someone can argue for a better division then I'm happy to be convinced and change things accordingly. But I find that categories such as "migrant", "extinct" and so on, don't really help, since Large White migrate but are also residents (as are Red Admiral) and Large Blue are extinct, but have been reintroduced. So a simpler breakdown seemed to be the one I've implemented

Cheers,

- Pete

[Roger Gibbons]

Pete,

Here are some images you're welcome to use if they meet your criteria.

I have my doubts about the Arran Brown inclusion. The historical evidence is shaky, to say the least. The female Scotch Argus can look confusingly like an Arran Brown - I have seen some in eastern France at sea level looking almost exactly like the book illustrations of Arran Brown, but the location and low altitude rule out Arran Brown. I suspect the historical records might just be mis-identified Scotch Argus, but we'll never know!

[Padfield]

At least some of the historical specimens still exist (and are figured in Ford), so for them the only question is whether they were really taken on Arran.

In a way, I agree with you, Roger. But the butterfly will be forever associated with the British species, if only by its name, and for me it needs a mention, at least. All the British butterfly books I used as a child figured it and when I visited Arran on a field course I almost felt I was on hallowed ground (that was in March, so no hope of any Erebia). It is quite possible it never flew there, but equally just possible the species persists in the Highlands...

Guy

[Pete Eeles]

Thanks for the photos Roger - I'll definitely use them!

As for inclusion of Arran Brown - this is, as Guy says, purely down to the historical records (possibly misidentified). I think that, so long as this is clear in the text, then we should be ok!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Dave McCormick]

Mazarine Blue - A population of the butterfly used to reside in Britain until the population became extinct in 1904.

Albin's Hampstead Eye - (known as the Meadow Argus)

Castle Eden Argus - whats the difference between it and other Arguses?

Indian Red Admiral - extreme rare migrant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Br ... utterflies

just wondering, of all the species that used to be here but went extinct, was there a British Sub species of them or do we know?

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Dave,

The Wikipedia entry doesn't quote Emmet and Heath correctly, so I wouldn't use that as the basis of a list!

As for those you mentioned:

1. Mazarine Blue - this has always been included on the main pages.
2. Albin's Hampstead Eye - I believe this caused some consternation when it first turned up in a collection. But since it's not foundn in Europe, as far as I know, it clearly didn't get here naturally. I'll think about this one though!
3. Castle Eden Argus - this is the salmacis subspecies of Northern Brown Argus.
4. Indian Red Admiral - again, I don't believe this could ever get here under its own steam.

"of all the species that used to be here but went extinct, was there a British Sub species of them or do we know?"
Yes. The Large Copper was ssp. dispar (Lycaena dispar dispar) and the Large Blue was ssp. eutyphron. I believe that both were endemic to the British Isles and, therefore, gone for good

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

Right - back home and reading Emmet and Heath. Again

There are actually some very interesting sightings - for example, of Lang's Short-tailed Blue.

So ... I'm going to add a 3rd category so that *all* sightings can be included. However, I'll only include a species page for the first two. The categories will be:

Primary
Secondary
Other

Now I need to figure out which species are in which category

Cheers,

- Pete

[Dave McCormick]

Just wondering something too, was the Scarce Tortoiseshell and the Yellow Legged Tortoiseshell the same butterfly?