First sightings 2012 & previous

Large Skipper (upperwing)

This table lists the earliest sightings of resident and regular migrant butterfly species in 2012 reported to Butterfly Conservation HQ and Nick Bowles.

These first sightings are gathered as the butterfly season progresses so as to provide up-to-date information about species emergence. They are not reviewed retrospectively by reference to transect data or distribution records and therefore represent what we believed to be the first report of a species at the time rather than a comprehensive analysis of the actual first dates recorded in a particular year.

View previous years (2002-2011) sightings as a .pdf file.

Last update: 23 July, 2012
Vernacular name Scientific name Date Location
Chequered Skipper Carterocephalus palaemon 15 May Argyll
Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris 9 June Oxfordshire
Essex Skipper Thymelicus lineola 25 June Sussex
Lulworth Skipper Thymelicus acteon 24 May Dorset
Silver-spotted Skipper Hesperia comma 21 July Oxfordshire
Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus 22 May Hampshire
Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages 6 April Sussex
Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae 24 March Sussex
Swallowtail Papilio machaon 23 May Norfolk
Wood White Leptidea sinapis 10 April Surrey
Cryptic Wood White Leptidea juvernica 29 April Co. Armagh
Clouded Yellow Colias croceus 19 March Dorset
Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni 2 Jan Hampshire & Surrey
Large White Pieris brassicae 11 March Sussex
Small White Pieris rapae 26 Feb Monmouthshire & Oxfordshire
Green-veined White Pieris napi 10 March Dorset
Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines 11 March Derbyshire
Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi 24 March Cambridgeshire
Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae 22 July Dorset
Purple Hairstreak Favonius quercus 1 June Ceredigion
White-letter Hairstreak Satyrium w-album 17 June Hampshire
Black Hairstreak Satyrium pruni 17 June Buckinghamshire
Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas 23 March West Midlands
Small Blue Cupido minimus 30 March Isle of Wight
Silver-studded Blue Plebejus argus 10 June Sussex
Brown Argus Aricia agestis 1 May Sussex
Northern Brown Argus Aricia artaxerxes 28 May Borders
Common Blue Polyommatus icarus 1 May Isle of Wight & Sussex
Chalkhill Blue Polyommatus coridon 8 July Cambridgeshire
Adonis Blue Polyommatus bellargus 2 May Dorset
Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus 9 March Hertfordshire
Large Blue Phengaris arion 31 May Somerset
Duke of Burgundy Hamearis lucina 6 April Gloucestershire
White Admiral Limenitis camilla 17 June Sussex
Purple Emperor Apatura iris 29 June Surrey
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta 1 Jan Sussex
Painted Lady Vanessa cardui 8 Jan Norfolk
Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae 6 Jan Sussex
Peacock Aglais io 2 Jan Sussex
Comma Polygonia c-album 8 Jan Norfolk
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria selene 27 April Cornwall & Devon
Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria euphrosyne 1 April Devon
High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe 11 June Devon
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja 27 May Devon
Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia 17 June Sussex
Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia 9 May Co. Down
Glanville Fritillary Melitaea cinxia 11 May Isle of Wight
Heath Fritillary Melitaea athalia 23 May Devon
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria 13 Jan Cornwall
Wall Brown Lasiommata megera 24 March Devon
Mountain Ringlet Erebia epiphron 14 June Cumbria
Scotch Argus Erebia aethiops 21 July Cumbria
Marbled White Melanargia galathea 9 June Sussex
Grayling Hipparchia semele 9 June Glamorgan
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus 19 June Dorset
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina 22 May Somerset
Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus 12 June Somerset
Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus 26 March West Midlands
Large Heath Coenonympha tullia 28 May Argyll