Nymphalidae

14 resident species, one extinct. Some absent from Britain. 'A' indicates absence.

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Common Name Latin Name Food plant(s) Description
White Admiral   Ladoga camilla   Honeysuckle   Bright green, Pairs of brown branched spines on most segments, white along the spiracles. Confined to the southern half of England
Purple Emperor   Apatura iris   Sallow
   Green with two horns, yellow stripes. Central southern England
Red Admiral   Vanessa atalanta   Nettles
   Spiny and dark in colour with tiny white speckles, yellow markings. Common migrant.
Painted Lady   Cynthia cardui   Thistle   Velvety black, short branched yellow and black spines, with a broken yellow stripe down the sides. The range and abundance varies each year.
American Painted Lady Cynthia virginiensis   Thistles and cudweeds   Black, yellowish-green bands, white spots, branched spines. Scarce immigrant.
Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae   Nettles
  Yellowish-grey, black dorsal line, short yellowish spines. Common
Large Tortoiseshell   Nymphalis polychloros   Common elm, wych elm, grey sallow, goat willow, poplars, aspen, osier and pear.   Greyish-black, broad orange dorsal area centred by black line, sharp branched orange spines. Extinct since the late 40's.
Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa   Willow   Black, red spot dorsally, spiny. My favourite butterfly. Rarely seen, it migrates from Scandinavia and has never been known to breed in this country
Peacock Inachis io   Nettle
  Black with tiny white warts, spiny. Widespread and common
Comma Polygonia c-album   Hop, nettles and currant bushes   Greyish, marked with orange-brown, spiny. Southern England as far north as Yorkshire and Wales.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary   Boloria selene   Violets
   Dark brown body with 12 distinctive rows of amber cones. Widespread.
Pearl-bordered Fritillary   Boloria euphrosyne   Violets   Velvety black, twin row of yellow spines. Until the 1950's this was a common butterfly but has since declined.
Queen of Spain Fritillary   Argynnis lathonia   Dog violet and wild pansy   Black with many pale dots, branched spines. Rare migrant
High Brown Fritillary   Argynnis adippe   Dog Violet   Twelve rings of bristles and occurs in two colour forms: dark brown with a white stripe and pink bristles or red-brown with a white stripe. Probably extinct in all counties to the east of Wiltshire, protected by law.
Dark Green Fritillary   Argynnis aglaja   Violets   Purple-black with white speckles, red spots and bristles. Widely distributed although many populations have been destroyed by agricultural improvements. Scarce in the East.
Silver-washed Fritillary   Argynnis paphia   Dog Violet
  Velvety brown with darker stripes, twin yellow stripes down the back and long bristly spines. Relatively common
Marsh Fritillary   Eurodryas aurinia   Devil's Bit Scabious   Bristly, black with tiny white freckles. Rapidly declining
Glanville Fritillary   Melitaea cinxia   Ribwort Plantains   Black spiny bodies and russet heads. Rare. Colonies breed along the coasts of the Channel Isles.
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia   Cow-wheat, Ribwort Plantain and Germander Speedwell
   Black with parallel rows of bristly white and amber cones. One of the rarest butterflies, it was saved from the brink of extinction.
Two-tailed Pasha   Charaxes jasius   Strawberry tree A Plump, tapered to two-prong tail, green, finely spotted with yellowish-white; two blue-centered, yellow spots, ringed with black on middle of back, yellow line on each side, large head. Mediterranean coasts of Europe.
Poplar Admiral   Limentitis populi   Aspen and poplar A green, marked with purplish-brown along back and sides with an irregular ochreous band along the sides; segment 2 bears two large, spiny projections on the back, subsequent segments have smaller projections. Central Europe.
Lesser Purple Emperor   Apatura ilia   Aspen and poplar A Tapering towards the tail which bears two small prongs; green with two red and yellow lines along back, rear half with a series of diagonal, red and yellow stripes along side. Central and southern Europe.
European Map   Araschinia levana   Stinging nettle A Black, finely spotted with white, broken yellowish-brown stripes along back and sides, black or orange-yellow spines. Central and parts of southern Europe.
Violet or Weaver's Fritillary   Boloria dia   Violets and brambles A Dark grey with a broken, whitish streak along back and reddish-yellow stripes along sides, yellowish spines. Widespread in Europe.
False Heath Fritillary   Melitaea diamina   Common ow-wheat, plantain and speedwell A Dark greyish-brown, orange-yellow spines. Widespread but local in Europe.
Spotted Fritillary   Melitaea didyma   Plantain, speedwell and toadflax A Whitish line with black and with two rows of large reddish-orange spots along back each surrounding a spine. Central and southern Europe.
Knapweed fritillary   Melitaea cinxia   Knapweed A Blackish-grey, lined with black and finely dotted with white, whitish band along sides. Central and northern Europe.