www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

The Urban Birder has organised a "National Bird" vote. The result is a foregone conclusion.

But why not a National Butterfly or perhaps a UK National Butterfly plus four subsections for the individual countries? My suggestions:

UK as a whole = Red Admiral or Peacock
England = Swallowtail (or slightly less well known to the public, Marbled White)
Scotland = Chequered Skipper (couldn't really be anything else)
Northern Ireland = Cryptic Wood White
Wales = ??? struggling here for inspiration. Marsh Fritillary?

Jack

Jack Harrison wrote: Wales = ??? struggling here for inspiration. Marsh Fritillary?

Jack

Perfect choice, Jack. Marshies can be found in quite a few locations here.....often in considerable numbers.

Surely the all Britain one should be Small Tort?

Tony M.

I'd propose orange tip for the whole UK mascot. Of all the British species I think this is the most feel-good and positive. Has anyone ever seen a male orange tip meandering down a leafy lane and not experienced a surge of unaccountable happiness?

Guy

This is my first posting with the second hand iPad2 I have just got from my son. He needs the latest version for work so I got the old one for (where's the damn pound symbol?)100 pounds.

I agree about Orange Tip but the general public think more of garden butterfles in late summer: that's why I think Peacock would be better known.

End of iPad test. It is usable 'on the move' for occasional typing but that isn't really its forte. But after three days, I am already an iPad fan for its general usefullness and portability.

Jack

It has to be the Cabbage Whites. They are not welcome, their youngsters are vandals and according to UKButterflies.com "This species is also known to migrate to the British Isles from the continent, augmenting the resident population in the process."

My vote for National Butterfly is the Orange Tip. By far my favourite. Guy it is only a couple of weeks before I will be savouring that 'unaccountable happiness' once more.
As for a close second and third, it would be the Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell, the other two Butterflies that first captured my imagination as a child.

I would agree with Jack on his vote for Scotland & Northern Ireland, but thinking outside the box on the Wales one, I propose Silver Studded Blue (Subspecies Caernensis), due to it's exclusivity to the Great Orme and surrounding area.

Kind Regards
Kev

Orange Tip is indeed my favourite but is it aas well known to Joe Public as Red Admiral? In my experience, it isn't.

Found the elusive £ and € on my iPad

Jack

Small Tortoiseshell HAS to be the national choice! A colourful garden regular, long lived and seen throughout most the year, enters houses more often than any other adult overwinterer, and add to that to celebrate its resurgance after it's 10 or so year decline. To me it's as obvious as the Robin in the bird one.

Have to say that I agree with the choice of Small Tortoiseshell. They can be found all over the UK in practically any habitat.....they're harbingers of spring and they also delight us all in the late summer once the new brood has hatched and they all head towards our gardens to nectar themselves silly prior to hibernation....

...oh, and they're also likely to be found in sheds sleeping during the winter months to remind us all of how these insects survive through our cold winters.

They tick all the boxes.

That's a 'yes' then? .

Tony M.

Whatever species are chosen, it is vital that images are not of set, spread, specimens. They have to be as natural living creatures. Sadly Joe Public tends to think of butterflies in that spread position - hardly encouraging a conservation minded attitude.

Jack

I can't believe no-one has mentioned His Imperial Majesty as a candidate for England (though not all of the UK). He will be most displeased

Hi John,

Mr Oates declared the Purple Emperor as our national butterfly several years back. That can only be overturned by an Act of Parliament.

BWs, Neil

Purple Emperor surely non-PC these days and harks back to the era when world maps had lots of red on them?

Jack

Perhaps we should consider a National Moff ?

this one would get my vote:

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/com ... 69605.html

Not altogether convinced that a butterfly probably less than 2% of the population has ever seen should be held up as the national icon.

For an English one, why not something that charateristic of English summer downland, Chalkhill or Adonis blues would be an obvious choice to my mind. Or maybe the Speckled Wood with referance to it's continued invasion of Scotland and keeping the Union together... controversial

While the Downland Blues are certainly among my favourites, a National Butterfly should surely have to be something that the general public are familiar with are at least being able to say: "I know that....it' a......"? That's the reason why I prefer Red Admiral or Peacock for UK as a whole and Swallowtail for England.

I don't see this concept a National Butterfly as being for butterfly enthusiasts but for Joe Public

Jack

I agree with your comment about the general public, Jack, but that steers me towards the Small Tortoiseshell. Only the Large White is more familiar but that species hardly endears itself to the vegetable-growing public.

As a kid, the ST was the only colourful butterfly that I knew, although, in Lancashire at the time, many people called it a Red Admiral. Does that incorrect usage still persist in the north?