Contents Foreword . 7 Preface . 9 Introduction . 10 How butterflies and moths differ . 12 The life-cycle of a butterfly . 14 Butterfly biology . .15 Egg . 15 Caterpillar . 16 Chrysalis . 17 Adult . 18 Where to look for butterflies . 24 Gardening for butterflies . 25 Butterfly habitats . 26 Favoured habitats . 32 Key places for rare and localized butterflies . 33 How to identify butterflies . 34 Key features of adult butterflies . 34 Butterfly identification . 35 Colour variation: forms and aberrations . 36 The types of butterfly . 38 Glossary . 40 THE SPECIES ACCOUNTS (See the following pages for full list) . 41 Species of doubtful provenance . 192 Caterpillar foodplants . 194 Butterfly nectar sources and caterpillar foodplants . 202 Eggs, caterpillars and chrysalises . 206 Eggs . 207 Caterpillars . 212 Chrysalises . 219 List of British and Irish butterflies . 225 Butterfly watching and photography . 230 Butterfly Conservation . 231 Recording and monitoring . 231 Conservation and legislation . 232 Further reading . 234 Sources of further information and useful addresses . 235 Acknowledgements and photographic/artwork credits . 236 Index of English and scientific names . 239 THE SPECIES ACCOUNTS The species accounts in this book are divided into two sections: breeding and annual migrants, and vagrants and former breeding species . For ease of reference the species are ordered so as to present similar-looking species as close together as possible . This means that the butterflies do not always appear in strict taxonomic order, although they are listed in taxonomic order in the table on pages 225–229 . BREEDING AND ANNUAL MIGRANT SPECIES . 42 Skippers Small Skipper . Thymelicus sylvestris . 42 Essex Skipper . Thymelicus lineola . 44 Lulworth Skipper . Thymelicus acteon . 46 Silver-spotted Skipper . Hesperia comma . 48 Large Skipper . Ochlodes sylvanus . 50 Chequered Skipper . Carterocephalus palaemon . 52 Grizzled Skipper . Pyrgus malvae . 54 Dingy Skipper . Erynnis tages . 56 Whites and Yellows Clouded Yellow . Colias croceus . 58 Brimstone . Gonepteryx rhamni . 60 Large White . Pieris brassicae . 62 Small White . Pieris rapae . 64 Green-veined White . Pieris napi . 66 Orange-tip . Anthocharis cardamines . 68 Wood White . Leptidea sinapis . 70 Cryptic Wood White . Leptidea juvernica . 72 Swallowtails Swallowtail . Papilio machaon . 74 Hairstreaks, Blues and Coppers Green Hairstreak . Callophrys rubi . 76 Brown Hairstreak . Thecla betulae . 78 Black Hairstreak . Satyrium pruni . 80 White-letter Hairstreak . Satyrium w-album . 82 Purple Hairstreak . Neozephyrus quercus . 84 Holly Blue . Celastrina argiolus . 86 Small Blue . Cupido minimus . 88 Brown Argus . Aricia agestis . ..