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Primary Image Title Description
Chalk-hill Blue Butterfly Pale silvery blue.wide sooty brown margin on forewing, black dots around edge of hindwing.female brown with faint orange spots on edge of the hindwing.Fringes checkered in both male and female....
Bath White Butterfly Fast flying and a bit of a nomad.The upperside ,which is rarely seen when the butterfly rests ,has black tips to the forewing enclosing white spots.Underside of forewing has two large black spots...
Berger's Clouded Yellow Butterfly
Black Hairstreak Butterfly Upperside (rarely seen when resting) is a dull brown with an orange border.Although the border may be absent from the forewing.Female sometimes has a large orange flush on the forewing.There are...
Black-veined White Butterfly A large butterfly with a white ground colour and clear black veins. It's rounded wings are bordered with a narrow black margin. The upper and underwings are similar, yet the females veins are...
Brimstone Butterfly Male upperside is bright yellow the female is greenish white.Tip of forewing has a sharp point, all four wings have a red dot in the centre.Underside pale green and looks like a leaf in both the male...
Brown Argus Butterfly The ground colour is a rich chocolate brown with a single black spot on each of the forewings, bordered with a row of orange spots and edged with a white fringe. The underwing is greyish brown with...
Brown Hairstreak Butterfly The upperside of the Brown hairstreaks' wings are a rich brown. The female has a bar of orange on each fore-wing and the orange tails of the hind-wings are quite distinctive. The male is much plainer...
Clouded Yellow Butterfly A strong, fast-flying butterfly butterfly which feeds and lays its eggs on various species of clover. It is less common in Britain today, a metion shoud be made that the Clouded Yellow has been a...
Dingy Skipper Butterfly The Dingy Skipper Butterfly has a very moth-like appearance, with dark brown upperwings and underwings of a reddish brown. Difficult to tell the difference between the sexes.
Duke of Burgundy Butterfly The upperside is a rich brown ground colour, orange markings and a whiteish chequered fringe. The underwing is a lighter tawny brown with dark spots on the forewing and white spots on the hindwing....
Essex Skipper Butterfly

Orange brown - with the male having a small black line on its upperwings. Can also be identified with its antennal club which is black.
Gatekeeper Butterfly The upperwings are predominantly orange in colour with a wide border of brown along the side of the wing that becomes narrower, but still very noticeable along the leading edge. There is also a...
Glanville Fritillary The Glanville fritillary was named after Elanor Glanville, an 18th century amateur naturalist. It is patterned on the upperside of the hind-wings with black dots in orange spots. The underside of the...
Grayling Butterfly Underwing mottled-brown. Appears larger in flight when pale yellow-orange bands can be seen. Cryptic colouring provides the Grayling with excellent camouflage, making it difficult to see when at rest...
Green Hairstreak Butterfly The underwings are a bright green yellow ground colour, with a white faint broken line on the forewing and a clear white broken line on it's hindwing. The upperside is a rich chocolate brown - the...
Green-veined White Butterfly Wings white with prominent greenish veins on hind wing. Uppers have one or more spots. Small White is similar but lacks green veins. The Green-veined White can be found throughout the countryside,...
Grizzled Skipper Butterfly Smaller than most Skippers with more white markings especially on hindwing. Rests with wings open. Both sexes very similar, the male has more angular wings. Two broods except at high altitudes. Flies...
Heath Fritillary Butterfly
High Brown Fritillary This butterfly is fast and vigorous in flight. Its upperside is an orange-brown with streaks and black spot markings and a pale chequered fringe. The underwings have the characteristic cresent of...
Holly Blue Butterfly Both male and female have blue upperwings although the females is slightly lighter they both have a chequered fringe. The male has a narrow dark margin, but it is more extensive on the female and...
Large Heath Butterfly Found in boggy habitats in northern Britain, Ireland, few sites in Wales and central England. Rests with wings closed. Some have row of 'eyespots' on underwings, like Ringlet, but some don't. Those...
Large Skipper Upperwings dark brown and orange brown with pale markings. Underwings buffush orange with paler spots.
Large White Butterfly

A large strong flying butterfly. Brilliant white wings with black tips to forewings, extending down wing edge. Females also have two spots on forewings not present in males. Undersides creamy...

Long-tailed Blue Butterfly The Long-tailed blue is one of the commonest butterflies in the world, however it is a very rare migrant to Britain. It has false eyes at the base of it's long tails which give a head and antenna...
Lulworth Skipper Butterfly Dull orange-brown wings held with forewings above hind wings. Males have black line through centre of fore-wing while females has pale spots on forewing. Darker than Small and Essex Skipper, neither...
Marbled White Butterfly A striking butterfly - The upperside is creamy white and black patches with an almost white scalloped margin. The underwing is a much paler almost grey version of the upper. The male and female look...
Marsh Fritillary Cream spots among the orange and brown on the upper wings separate this medium-sized butterfly from other fritillaries. The wings of this beautiful butterfly are more brightly patterned than those of...
Meadow Brown Butterfly A dull dark brown upper wing, with pale orange patches visible on some of these butterflies, together with a black spot encircling a white centre resembling an eye in the corner of each forewing. At...
Orange-tip Butterfly Generally white with a bright orange wingtip, the male of this species is easily recognised. The female has dusky grey wingtips, by comparison. They both have dark spots to the mid fore of the upper...
Painted Lady Butterfly The Painted Lady Butterfly has a peach-to-pale-orange background colour, with brown and white patches more noticeably on it upper forewings. Spots below the margins may have blue centres. The...
Peacock Butterfly This beautiful and perhaps best known butterfly shares its name with the equally colourful Peacock bird. Mainly burnt orange on its upper wings, large blue centred eyespots are apparent. The wing...
Pale Clouded Yellow

It is only the male of this species which is a true pale yellow. The female is white with black margins and two yellow spots on each hind-wing. Both male and female of this species have white...

Purple Emperor The majestic Purple Emperor is the second largest Uk species, second only to the Swallowtail. The purple sheen thats present on the males can only be seen from certain angles and light conditions....
Purple Hairstreak Butterfly The upperside of the male is an almost velvety black - when seen in cetain lights it has a purple violet iridescenes. Also has small tail streamers on it's hind wings. The upperside of the female is...
Red Admiral Butterfly A striking almost black butterfly with distinctive orange bands across the upper forewings and to the margins of the hindwings, which include a blue patch on the inner wing. There are white patches...
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