Butterfli es of t he Cair ngorms Small Blues An i denti fication gu id e Butterflies are beautiful insects and a joy to observe as well as identify. This guide will help you identify all 25 species of butterfly that occur in the Cairngorms National Park. It also provides a table so you can easily see what species are "on the wing" at any given time. We hope this leaflet will encourage you to help record the National Park’s important butterfly populations . 1 7 11 2 8 11 3 9 12 4 10 13 5 10 14 6 11 15 16 19 22 16 20 23 17 20 23 17 21 18 21 24 18 22 25 SKIPPERS July to September. 10 Northern Brown Argus 1 Dingy Skipper 6 Orange-tip PS, LBAP 26 - 35mm PS 27 - 34mm 40 - 52mm This small butterfly can be easily In sunshine this is an active Feeds on wild crucifers such identified by the gleaming white butterfly, but in dull weather and as cuckoo flower and garlic spot on each forewing. Adults fly at night it perches on the tops of mustard. Males are unmistakable from early June to August, but it dead flowerheads in a moth-like with their bright orange wing-tips, can also be found by searching fashion. It can be found in places but females have no orange so for its conspicuous white eggs laid with bare ground and bird's-foot- could be confused with Small or on the upper side of the leaves of trefoil, the caterpillar's food plant. Green-veined Whites. However, its food plant, common rock-rose. However, it is currently only known Orange-tips have distinctive 11 Common Blue from two or three sites along mottled green undersides that 29 - 36mm the River Feshie. It flies in can also be seen faintly from A widespread butterfly found in May and June. above through the upperwing. a variety of grassy habitats from Flies mid April to June. sea level to mountainsides, almost WHITES AND YELLOWS anywhere that its caterpillar's 2 Clouded Yellow HAIRSTREAKS, foodplant, bird's-foot-trefoil, m 52 - 58mm, f 54 - 62mm COPPERS AND BLUES occurs. The brightly-coloured 7 Green Hairstreak males are conspicuous, but A migrant to the UK from the 27 - 34mm females are browner, often with Continent, this butterfly is well- Despite the bright green little or no blue. In Scotland it known for its mass immigrations appearance of this small butterfly, usually has one generation a when they arrive in huge numbers which always sits with its wings year, the adults flying between in "Clouded Yellow years". Less closed, it can be difficult to spot. June and September. common in Scotland, but in good It prefers warm, sheltered sites in years may be seen between open birch woodland, moorland VANESSIDS AND FRITILLARIES May and September. and edges or clearings of conifer 12 Red Admiral 3 Large White plantations where its caterpillar m 64 - 72mm, f 70 - 78mm m 58mm, f 63mm food plant, blaeberry (bilberry), is A familiar and distinctive garden Our largest white butterfly and found. Flies from mid April to June. butterfly that migrates to the UK a strong flier. Feeds on brassica 8 Small Copper every year from southern Europe crops as caterpillars and therefore m 26 - 36mm, f 30 - 40mm and North Africa. It can breed in disliked by gardeners. Differs from This dainty butterfly is a Scotland but cannot survive our the Small White by its larger size, widespread species found in a winter. The major influx starts in darker black wing tips which range of habitats. Its caterpillars late May and is re-inforced until extend down the wing edge, feed on common and sheep's August, with adults being seen and bolder spots. sorrel. The spring and summer until November. The caterpillars Flies April - September. broods can overlap, so it can feed on stinging nettles. 4 Small White be seen from late April through 13 Painted Lady 38 - 57mm to late September. m 58 - 70mm, f 62 - 74mm The caterpillars feed on brassicas, 9 Small Blue Another migrant, this species is but they cause less damage than PS, LBAP 18 - 27mm unable to over-winter in any part of those of the Large White. Easily The smallest butterfly in the UK, the UK and re-colonises each year confused with the more common this dusky-coloured species is from mainland Europe, sometimes Green-veined White which is often overlooked. There are in spectacular numbers (such as in similar in size, but the upperside only a few known sites but 1995 and 2003). They can often has dark tips to the forewings, and there may be other colonies. be seen congregating in areas it lacks the "green veins" on the It is found in places where kidney with thistles, which serve as both underside of the wing. It is often vetch (the caterpillar food plant) a food plant for the caterpillars one of the first butterflies to be grows, usually on dry sheltered and a nectar source for the adults. seen and flies all summer. grasslands. It is similar to the The peak of immigration usually 5 Green-veined White commoner day-flying Chimney occurs in June, and adults can be 40 - 52mm Sweeper moth, but Small Blues seen until October or November. The most common of the whites, have a white border extending this species feeds on wild crucifers all around the wing. Flies mid and is not a garden pest. The May to late July. green veins on the underside of the wing distinguish this from other Codes white butterflies, but they can fade PS Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UKBAP) with wear and are less distinct LBAP Local Biodiversity Action Plan species in second generation butterflies. Wing spans, m = male, f = female Flies April to June and 14 Small Tortoiseshell 18 Dark Green Fritillary 22 Meadow Brown m 45 - 55mm, f 52 - 62mm LBAP 58 - 68mm m 40 - 50mm, f 42 - 60mm This well-known butterfly can be This is a large butterfly that feeds One of the most common seen in any month of the year in on violets as a caterpillar. It is butterflies in the area, the Meadow almost any habitat. It is familiar in widespread and is often found in Brown can be seen in many grassy gardens and feeds on stinging flower-rich habitats with patches of habitats flying even in dull weather nettles as a caterpillar. It over- scrub. It can be confused with the when most other butterflies are winters as an adult and is one of other two fritillaries in the area but inactive. The caterpillar feeds on the first butterflies to emerge in the is a more powerful flier, is much a variety of grasses. Males tend spring. Adults are regularly found larger and has a green background to be much darker than females, in houses, sheds and outbuildings to the underside of its hind wing. but the amount of orange on both seeking hibernation sites. It flies from June to August. is variable. The spotting pattern 15 Peacock on the underside of the hindwing m 63 - 68mm, f 67 - 75mm BROWNS is also variable. Flies from late An unmistakable butterfly 19 Speckled Wood June to early September. and a regular garden visitor, m 46 - 52mm, f 48 - 56mm 23 Ringlet feeding on nettles as a caterpillar. A butterfly of shady woodlands, m 42 - 48mm, f 46 - 52mm It colonised the Cairngorms from this species spread into the Another recent colonist to the the south in the mid 1990s and northern part of the Cairngorms Cairngorms, the Ringlet has a very is now a common garden butterfly. in the early 1990s. Males are dark, velvety appearance when Often one of the first butterflies often seen perched in sunlit spots newly emerged. Males tend to be to be seen in the spring having ready to defend their territory or smaller and darker than females over-wintered as adults, its summer intercept females. The caterpillars with hardly any markings on the broods can be seen from July to feed on various grasses. Flies upperwings. The "ringlets" on the September, in much larger numbers. from late April to late October. underwings vary in number and 16 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 20 Mountain Ringlet size and can be virtually absent. PS, LBAP PS, LBAP It favours tall grassland on damp, m 35 - 41mm, f 38 - 44mm m 28 - 36mm, f 28 - 38mm heavy soils, where the caterpillars This species occurs in damp, Our only true montane butterfly, feed on coarse grasses. It flies, grassy habitats, woodland clearings this species is found above 350m, even in dull conditions, from late and moorlands. The caterpillars usually on south-facing slopes June to August. feed on marsh violet. It can be where the caterpillars feed on 24 Small Heath confused with the much rarer mat grass. It only flies in bright PS m 33mm, f 37mm Pearl-bordered Fritillary or the sunshine, but can be disturbed A bright but inconspicuous Dark Green Fritillary (see below). from the ground in quite dull butterfly that flies only in sunny Flies from late May to August. weather. It is similar to the larger conditions and always keeps its 17 Pearl-bordered Fritillary and brighter Scotch Argus, but wings closed at rest. It occurs on PS, LBAP does not have white eyespots. grasslands in dry, well-drained m 38 - 46mm, f 43 - 47mm In the Cairngorms it has been situations where the sward is short This is a comparatively rare recorded at Craig Meagaidh, Glen but sparse and there are fescues, species in the area.