Here are 2021's earliest sightings of resident and common migrant butterflies, as reported to Butterfly Conservation.
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 (2011-2020) sightings as a download.
Vernacular name | Scientific name | Date | Location |
---|---|---|---|
Swallowtail | Papilio machaon | 19 May | Norfolk |
Dingy Skipper | Erynnis tages | 17 April | Dorset & Somerset |
Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | 11 April | Sussex |
Chequered Skipper | Carterocephalus palaemon | 16 May | Argyll |
Essex Skipper | Thymelicus lineola | 24 June | London |
Small Skipper | Thymelicus sylvestris | 8 June | Somerset |
Lulworth Skipper | Thymelicus acteon | 4 May | Dorset |
Silver-spotted Skipper | Hesperia comma | 13 July | Sussex |
Large Skipper | Ochlodes sylvanus | 29 May | Dorset |
Wood White | Leptidea sinapis | 18 April | Devon |
Cryptic Wood White | Leptidea juvernica | 25 April | Co. Armagh |
Orange-tip | Anthocharis cardamines | 11 March | Kent |
Large White | Pieris brassicae | 7 March | Derbyshire |
Small White | Pieris rapae | 22 Jan | Wiltshire |
Green-veined White | Pieris napi | 23 March | Derbyshire |
Clouded Yellow | Colias croceus | 19 March | Dorset |
Brimstone | Gonepteryx rhamni | 21 Jan | Derbyshire |
Wall | Lasiommata megera | 30 March | Derbyshire & Somerset |
Speckled Wood | Pararge aegeria | 6 Feb | Cornwall |
Large Heath | Coenonympha tullia | 3 June | Co. Armagh |
Small Heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | 30 March | Somerset |
Mountain Ringlet | Erebia epiphron | 1 June | Cumbria |
Scotch Argus | Erebia aethiops | 16 July | Highland |
Ringlet | Aphantopus hyperantus | 13 June | Derbyshire |
Meadow Brown | Maniola jurtina | 25 May | Somerset |
Gatekeeper | Pyronia tithonus | 23 June | Cambridgeshire |
Marbled White | Melanargia galathea | 11 June | Dorset |
Grayling | Hipparchia semele | 11 June | Conwy |
Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria euphrosyne | 17 April | Devon |
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria selene | 20 April | Devon |
Silver-washed Fritillary | Argynnis paphia | 14 June | Sussex |
Dark Green Fritillary | Argynnis aglaja | 6 June | Ceredigion |
High Brown Fritillary | Argynnis adippe | 7 June | Devon |
White Admiral | Limenitis camilla | 12 June | Hampshire |
Purple Emperor | Apatura iris | 29 June | Sussex |
Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta | 7 Jan | Devon |
Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui | 21 Feb | Cornwall |
Peacock | Aglais io | 6 Jan | Derbyshire |
Small Tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | 1 Jan | Derbyshire |
Comma | Polygonia c-album | 3 Jan | Derbyshire |
Marsh Fritillary | Euphydryas aurinia | 28 April | Devon |
Glanville Fritillary | Melitaea cinxia | 30 April | Isle of Wight |
Heath Fritillary | Melitaea athalia | 24 May | Cornwall |
Duke of Burgundy | Hamearis lucina | 18 April | Hampshire |
Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 29 March | Suffolk |
Brown Hairstreak | Thecla betulae | 20 July | Dorset |
Purple Hairstreak | Favonius quercus | 5 June | Essex |
Green Hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | 1 April | Sussex |
White-letter Hairstreak | Satyrium w-album | 13 June | London |
Black Hairstreak | Satyrium pruni | 6 June | Cambridgeshire |
Small Blue | Cupido minimus | 26 April | Dorset |
Holly Blue | Celastrina argiolus | 27 Feb | Wiltshire |
Large Blue | Maculinea arion | 7 June | Somerset |
Silver-studded Blue | Plebejus argus | 2 June | Conwy |
Brown Argus | Aricia agestis | 23 April | Wiltshire |
Northern Brown Argus | Aricia artaxerxes | 11 May | Lancashire |
Common Blue | Polyommatus icarus | 20 April | Somerset |
Adonis Blue | Polyommatus bellargus | 5 May | Dorset |
Chalk Hill Blue | Polyommatus coridon | 5 July | Cambridgeshire |