Butterflies

British Butterflies ID

OUT NOW

Following the publication of the Damselfly and Dragonfly identification DVDs, my attention was turned to our Butterflies.

I have made a short film about each of our breeding species – life cycles are described and comparisons made with similar species. The films have been put together to create a double disc DVD. A Blu-ray version is available too – much better for detail on the large screen TVs we all have now. The overall running time is about 3hrs 28mins. As with the Dragonfly DVDs, I hope this will useful to beginners and experienced enthusiasts alike.

Click on the video links below to get a preview of four of the species.

Graham Sherwin

Which species are included

All our breeding species are represented except the Cryptic Wood White found in Ireland. Apart from the genitalia and habitat requirements this is identical to the Wood White. The butterflies are arranged in family groups with the Swallowtail attached to the Whites and the Small Copper attached to the Blues for convenience. Nymphalidae are split into three groups. The Duke of Burgundy is included with the Fritillaries for identification purposes (from it’s appearance, it was once thought to be a Fritillary).

The list is as follows with my groupings followed by the family name:

Skippers – Hesperiidae Chequered Skipper Small Skipper Essex Skipper Lulworth Skipper Silver-spotted Skipper Large Skipper Grizzled Skipper Dingy Skipper

Swallowtails and Whites – Papilionidae & Pieridae Swallowtail Wood White Clouded Yellow Brimstone Large White Small White Green-veined White Orange-tip

Hairstreaks – Lycaenidae (part) Green Hairstreak Brown Hairstreak Purple Hairstreak White-letter Hairstreak Black Hairstreak

Coppers and Blues – Lycaenidae (part) Small Copper Small Blue Silver-studded Blue Brown Argus Northern Brown Argus Common Blue Chalkhill Blue Adonis Blue Holly Blue Large Blue

The split is here on the DVD version

Admirals and Emperors – Nymphalidae (part) White Admiral Purple Emperor Red Admiral Painted Lady Small Tortoiseshell Peacock Comma

Metalmarks and Fritillaries – Riodinidae & Nymphalidae Duke of Burgundy Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary Pearl-bordered Fritillary High Brown Fritillary Dark Green Fritillary Silver-washed Fritillary Marsh Fritillary Glanville Fritillary Heath Fritillary

Browns – Nymphalidae (part) Speckled Wood Wall Mountain Ringlet Scotch Argus Marbled White Grayling Gatekeeper Meadow Brown Ringlet Small Heath Large Heath

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