Dorset's Butterflies and Moths

There are 45 species of Butterfly in Dorset (46 including the Pearl-bordered Fritillary, which has not been seen now for several years in Dorset). Below is an alphabetical listing.

For a listing by Family click here. For a listing by Latin Name click here.

To find a brief description of each species and where to find them, please click on their names, or click here for a basic identification guide. This is, of course, no substitute for a decent book on the subject, but may help with more simple identification queries. The listing of where to find the butterflies and moths names the Transect Routes where they are seen most often, rather than a full listing of everywhere they are found. If the listing states anywhere, this means they are found on at least 95% of all Transects in the County.

These descriptions are not intended as a comprehensive identification guide - for this, we recommend you buy one of the many excellent books on the market.

	Adonis Blue
	Brimstone
	Brown Argus
	Brown Hairstreak
	Chalkhill Blue
	Clouded Yellow
	Comma
	Common Blue
	Dark Green Fritillary
	Dingy Skipper
	Duke of Burgundy
	Essex Skipper
	Gatekeeper
	Grayling
	Green Hairstreak
	Green-veined White
	Grizzled Skipper
	Holly Blue
	Large Skipper
	Large White
	Lulworth Skipper
	Marbled White
	Marsh Fritillary
	Meadow Brown
	Orange Tip
	Painted Lady
	Peacock
	(Pearl-bordered Fritillary)
	Purple Hairstreak
	Red Admiral
	Ringlet
	Silver-spotted Skipper
	Silver-studded Blue
	Silver-washed Fritillary
	Small Blue
	Small Copper
	Small Heath
	Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
	Small Skipper
	Small Tortoiseshell
	Small White
	Speckled Wood
	Wall
	White Admiral
	White-letter Hairstreak
	Wood White

A chart showing the flight periods of Dorset's Butterflies, along with their foodplants, habitats and typical behaviour is available here or, if you want to print it in PDF format click here. To view the pdf, you must have Acrobat Reader.