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Here are 2012's earliest sightings of resident and common migrant butterflies, as reported to Butterfly Conservation.
Glanville Fritillary is the latest species to emerge, but it was several weeks behind the very early spring of 2011.
If you have seen a butterfly that is not yet listed for 2012, and you are confident that you have identified it correctly, please email our Surveys Manager with details of your sighting.
Last update: 15 May, 2012
| Vernacular name | Scientific name | Date | Location |
| Chequered Skipper | Carterocephalus palaemon | ||
| Small Skipper | Thymelicus sylvestris | ||
| Essex Skipper | Thymelicus lineola | ||
| Lulworth Skipper | Thymelicus acteon | ||
| Silver-spotted Skipper | Hesperia comma | ||
| Large Skipper | Ochlodes sylvanus | ||
| Dingy Skipper | Erynnis tages | 6 April | Sussex |
| Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | 24 March | Sussex |
| Swallowtail | Papilio machaon | ||
| 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 | ||
| Purple Hairstreak | Favonius quercus | ||
| White-letter Hairstreak | Satyrium w-album | ||
| Black Hairstreak | Satyrium pruni | ||
| Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 23 March | West Midlands |
| Small Blue | Cupido minimus | 30 March | Isle of Wight |
| Silver-studded Blue | Plebejus argus | ||
| Brown Argus | Aricia agestis | 2 May | Sussex |
| Northern Brown Argus | Aricia artaxerxes | ||
| Common Blue | Polyommatus icarus | 1 May | Isle of Wight & Sussex |
| Chalkhill Blue | Polyommatus coridon | ||
| Adonis Blue | Polyommatus bellargus | 11 May | Sussex |
| Holly Blue | Celastrina argiolus | 9 March | Hertfordshire |
| Large Blue | Phengaris arion | ||
| Duke of Burgundy | Hamearis lucina | 6 April | Gloucestershire |
| White Admiral | Limenitis camilla | ||
| Purple Emperor | Apatura iris | ||
| 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 | ||
| Dark Green Fritillary | Argynnis aglaja | ||
| Silver-washed Fritillary | Argynnis paphia | ||
| Marsh Fritillary | Euphydryas aurinia | 9 May | Co. Down |
| Glanville Fritillary | Melitaea cinxia | 11 May | Isle of Wight |
| Heath Fritillary | Melitaea athalia | ||
| Speckled Wood | Pararge aegeria | 13 Jan | Cornwall |
| Wall Brown | Lasiommata megera | 24 March | Devon |
| Mountain Ringlet | Erebia epiphron | ||
| Scotch Argus | Erebia aethiops | ||
| Marbled White | Melanargia galathea | ||
| Grayling | Hipparchia semele | ||
| Gatekeeper | Pyronia tithonus | ||
| Meadow Brown | Maniola jurtina | ||
| Ringlet | Aphantopus hyperantus | ||
| Small Heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | 26 March | West Midlands |
| Large Heath | Coenonympha tullia |
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.