Dorset butterflies in the vanessids family include:

Orange butterfly with dark markings and ragged edge to wings

Comma

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Orange butterfly with black markings perched on a branch

Large Tortoiseshell

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Butterfly with open wings: mainly orange with black and white and tiny specks of blue

Painted Lady

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Two eye-catching butterflies on stone

Peacock

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Large butterfly with mainly brown wings, thoug some purple, and white marks

Purple Emperor

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Black butterfly with striking red and white markings, clinging to a narrow tree trunk

Red Admiral

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One butterfly with open wings and one with closed wings, showing the huge difference between them

Small Tortoiseshell

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Large dark brown butterfly with white markings

White Admiral

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Notes

This website only shows butterflies found in Dorset, but as the Vanessids are all pretty mobile butterflies, all of them are found here.