British Butterflies

You will find listed here, in alphabetical order, all the British butterfly species from our Flora and Fauna database. As there are a large number of species with similar names we have included the genus, species, phylum, family and kingdom to help you correctly select the one you are looking for.

All Butterflies are of the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Class Insecta and the Order Lepidoptera.

This page only displays species that have common names, there is likely to be many more members of this species in the main database that are found either in or around the British Isles or somewhere within the United Kingdom that do not have common names they will however be marked native, introduced, etc. To access these return to Flora and Fauna Menu and use the World Wildlife sub-menu.

If images are available the species name is displayed in bold with the camera icon beside it along with the number of images available. To view the images click on the species name.

Select the species you require

Common Name	Species	Status	Family	Sub Order	Order
Admiral var Negrina, White	Limenitis camilla var negrina	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Admiral, Popular	Limenitis populi	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Admiral, Red	Vanessa atalanta x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Admiral, White	Limenitis camilla x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Argus, Brown	Plebejus agestis	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Argus, Northern Brown	Aricia artaxerxes	Native	Saturniidae		Lepidoptera
Argus, Scotch	Erebia aethiops	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Adonis	Polyommatus bellargus x 4	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Chalkhill	Polyommatus coridon	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Common	Polyommatus icarus x 1	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Holly	Celastrina argiolus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Large	Maculinea arion	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Long-tailed	Lampides boeticus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Mazarine	Polyommatus semiargus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Short-tailed	Cupido argiades	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Silver-studded	Plebejus argus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Blue, Small	Cupido minimus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Brown, Meadow	Maniola jurtina x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Camberwell Beauty or Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Comma	Polygonia c-album x 2	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Copper, Large	Lycaena dispar	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Copper, Small	Lycaena phlaeas	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Duke of Burgundy	Hamearis lucina	Native	Riodinidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Emperor, Purple	Apatura iris	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary var Issea, Dark Green	Argynnis aglaja var Issea	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Dark Green	Argynnis aglaja	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Glanville	Melitaea cinxia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Greenish Silver-washed	Argynnis paphia var f. valesina	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Heath	Melitaea athalia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, High Brown	Fabriciana adippe	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Marsh	Euphydryas aurinia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Pearl-bordered	Boloria euphrosyne	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Queen of Spain	Issoria lathonia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Silver-washed	Argynnis paphia x 2	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Fritillary, Small Pearl-bordered	Boloria selene	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Gatekeeper	Pyronia tithonus x 2	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Grayling	Hipparchia semele	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Hairstreak, Black	Satyrium pruni	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Hairstreak, Brown	Thecla betulae	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Hairstreak, Green	Callophrys rubi	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Hairstreak, Purple	Neozephyrus quercus	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Hairstreak, White-letter	Satyrium w-album	Native	Lycaenidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Heath, Large	Coenonympha tullia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Heath, Small	Coenonympha pamphilus	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Orange Tip, British	Anthocharis cardamines ssp. britannica	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Orange Tip, Irish	Anthocharis cardamines ssp. hibernica	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Peacock	Inachis io x 2	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Ringlet	Aphantopus hyperantus x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Ringlet, English Small Mountain	Erebia epiphron ssp. mnemon	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Ringlet, Scottish Small Mountain	Erebia epiphron ssp. scotia	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Skipper Butterfly, Small	Thymelicus sylvestris x 2	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Chequered	Carterocephalus palaemon	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Dingy	Erynnis tages	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Essex	Thymelicus lineola	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Grizzled	Pyrgus malvae	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Large	Ochlodes venata x 2	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Lulworth	Thymelicus acteon	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Skipper, Silver-spotted	Hesperia comma	Native	Hesperiidae		Lepidoptera
Swallowtail	Catinathrips machaon	Native	Thripidae	Terebrantia	Thysanoptera
Tortoiseshell, Large	Nymphalis polychloros	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Tortoiseshell, Small	Nymphalis urticae	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Wall	Lasiommata megera	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Black-veined	Aporia crataegi	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, British Green-veined	Pieris napi ssp. sabellicae	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Irish Green-veined	Pieris napi ssp. britannica	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Irish Wood	Leptidea sinapis ssp. juvernica	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Large	Pieris brassicae x 2	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Marbled	Melanargia galathea x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Real's Wood	Leptidea reali	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Scottish Green-veined	Pieris napi ssp. thompsoni	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Small	Pieris rapae	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
White, Wood	Leptidea sinapis	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Wood, Speckled	Pararge aegeria x 1	Native	Nymphalidae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Yellow, Brimstone	Gonepteryx rhamni	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Yellow, Clouded	Colias croceus x 3	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Yellow, Helice Clouded	Colias croceus var f. helice	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Yellow, Irish Brimstone	Gonepteryx rhamni ssp. gravesi	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera
Yellow, Pale Clouded	Colias hyale	Native	Pieridae	Glossata	Lepidoptera

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British Butterflies