My particular interest within nature has always been butterflies.  This started when I was eight years old when Clive Stace, an older boy living close to me in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, got me interested in them.  Clive had a good collection of butterflies that he had caught, mounted and displayed in a cabinet, which was the way things were done in the 1950s, but would be very much frowned upon today in view of the decline of many species of butterflies.  

Clive was also interested in wild-flowers and went on to lecture on botany at Manchester University and become Professor of Plant Taxonomy at Leicester University, President of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI) and the author of several books, including New Flora of the British Isles that is regarded as the standard work on the identification of the wild vascular plants of the British Isles.  Clive also retained his interest in butterflies and in June 2016 sighted the Chequered Skipper (in Scotland) to complete a personal sighting of every species of British Isles butterfly.

Wild Life - Butterflies

Clouded Yellow

Painted Lady

Common Blue

Here are some of the butterflies that frequent our garden and meadow in the summer months.

Some are pictured more than once to show the upper and underside wings and/or the difference between

the male and the female.

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Red Admiral

Silver Washed Fritillary

Green Veined White

Small Tortoiseshell

Essex Skipper

Small Skipper

Gatekeeper

Large White

Large Skipper

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Ringlet (left) mating with Gatekeeper

Brimstone

Male

Female

Female

Peacock

Species

Brimstone

Brown Argus

Brown Hairstreak

Clouded Yellow

Comma

Common Blue

Essex Skipper

Gatekeeper

Green Vein White

Holly Blue

Large Skipper

Large White

Marbled White

Meadow Brown

Orange Tip

Painted Lady
Peacock
Red Admiral
Ringlet
Silver Washed Fritillary
Small Copper
Small Heath
Small Skipper
Small Tortoiseshell
Small White
Speckled Wood

Wall Brown
Totals

Orange Tip

   2012

9 August

26 March

29 May

8 August

17 July

9 August

26 March

20 July

15 June

26 March

19 August

21 March

9 June

9 August

30 April

6 August

17 July

26 March

25 July

13 May

     20

   2013

9 August

11 August

1 August

9 August

12 July

15 July

26 July

22 July

19 May

15 July

19 June

19 May

17 June

6 June

26 July

9 July

9 August

3 August

17 July

2 May

3 May

7 May

    22

   2014

9 March

18 August

28 July

14 July

27 July

12 July

12 July

3 May

13 April

17 July

6 June

10 April

6 June

9 March

25 May

12 Sept

16 July

9 March

15 April

21 May

    20

Notes re sightings

2012: not here 17 January - 20 March & 7 November - 19 December.

2013: not here 4 March - 30 April, 28 May - 4 June & 7 - 15 June.

2014: not here 28 June - 11 July & 28 October - 18 December.

2015: not here 18 February - 2 April & 27 October - 21 December.

2016: not here 25 January - 30 March.

   2015

21 August

8 Sept

5 July

28 May

5 July

8 July

16 July

10 July

4 June

24 June

7 June

6 June

7 May

19 June

30 June

30 July

23 July

30 June

21 May

18 July

15 June

     21

Male

Female

Gatekeepers mating

Gatekeeper and Common Blue sharing field scabious

Male

Female

Male

Male

Female

Eggs

Because the Large White lays her eggs in clusters, the caterpillars generally stay close to each other when they are young, only going their own way when they become larger, like the one at the bottom left of the page.  The Small White caterpillars generally remain on their own throughout their life.

Brown Hairstreak

2012 - 2019: 27 different species seen, plus one White Admiral seen prior to 2012 when records commenced. 

Chequered Skipper

Small Skipper*

Essex Skipper*

Lulworth Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper*

Large Skipper*

Dingy Skipper*

Grizzled Skipper*

Swallowtail*

Wood White*

Real’s Wood White

Clouded Yellow*

Brimstone*

Monarch*

Large White*

Small White*

Green-veined White*

Orange Tip*

Green Hairstreak*

Brown Hairstreak*

Purple Hairstreak*

White-letter Hairstreak*

Black Hairstreak

Small Copper*

Long-tailed Blue*

Small Blue*

Silver-studded Blue*

Brown Argus*

Northern Brown Argus

Common Blue*

Chalkhill Blue*

Adonis Blue*

Holly Blue*

Large Blue

Duke of Burgundy*

White Admirtal*

Purple Emperor*

Red Admiral*

Painted Lady*

Small Tortoiseshell*

Large Tortoiseshell*

Camberwell Beauty*

Peacock*

Comma*

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Queen of Spain Fritillary*

Pearl-bordered Fritillary*

High Brown Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary*

Silver-washed Fritillary*

Marsh Fritillary

Glanville Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Speckled Wood*

Wall*

Mountain Ringlet

Scoth Argus

Marbled White*

Grayling*

Gatekeeper*

Meadow Brown*

Ringlet*

Small Heath*

Large Heath

   2016

5 May

5 August

29 August

6 July

8 May

19 July

7 July

19 July

27 April

5 July

8 June

7 May

4 June

5 April

22 May

5 July

24 May

5 July

11 June

24 May

6 August

     21

There are a total of 59 species of butterfly (listed below) which breed in Britain, plus several extinct species, and a few migrants. Of these species, 51 were sighted in Sussex in 2017 (as indicated with an * in the table below, reproduced from The Sussex Butterfly Report 2017 published by the Sussex Branch of Butterfly Conservation). 

   2017

26 March

30 July

15 August

27 October

30 June

25 May

29 June

29 June

10 August

6 April

21 June

10 May

17 June

2 June

5 April

4 June

9 March

26 April

7 July

2 July

15 June

17 June*

6 April

9 April

19 August

   25

*not first

   2018

18 April

4 August

2 Sept

5 August

27 June

29 May

6 July

7 July

1 May

18 April

5 May

25 June

6 June

19 April

9 June

12 July

26 June

1 July

25 July

2 July

19 June

25 June

14 May

     24

Wall Brown

   2019

     0

Holly Blue

The Small White and Large White lay their eggs on radish leaves as well as the more well known cabbage and other brassica plants.  The Large White lay their eggs in groups on either side of the leaf whilst the Small White lay their eggs singly on the underside of the leaves.

Small White

Caterpillars

Fully grown Small White

Fully grown Large White

Large White

Brown Argus

Comma

Marbled White

Common Blues Mating

Large White

Large Whites Mating

Female

Marbled White

Female

Male

Ringlet

Small Copper

Small Tortoiseshells Courting

Small White

Small White

Small Whites Mating

Male

Female

Large White caterpillars in a group, young on the left and older on the right