The county of Cumbria is located where the boundaries of southern and northern species of butterfly overlap which goes some way to explaining why 41 species are recorded, rather high for a county this far north.

We have the Mountain Ringlet and Scotch Argus that cannot be seen anywhere else south of the Scottish border. Large Heath are found on the Solway and Morecambe Bay mosses, the Small Blue is present on Brownfield sites on the west coast and Marsh Fritillary fly on a few grassland sites in the north and west.

The limestone woodlands and grasslands bordering Morecambe Bay are the UK stronghold of the rare High Brown Fritillary and are also home to Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Northern Brown Argus, Silver Washed Fritillary and Duke of Burgundy.

Find out more about butterfly surveys run in the Cumbria region