A sighting of the Silver-spotted Skipper was reported to this website on 8 August, completing the list of butterflies we are likely to see in Dorset this year.
Our ‘Dorset List’ contains 45 species – we are lucky in having so many. Of this list, only the Wood White has not been reported to the website this year, and this is a species feared to be extinct in the county.
Two species not on the Dorset List have shown up: the Purple Emperor (18 July) and a Monarch (1 August). The Purple Emperor is a woodland butterfly, and Dorset is a very poorly wooded county, so it is not often seen here. The Monarch is likely to be either a migrant or possibly a butterfly bred and released in this country – not something Butterfly Conservation condones.
Purple Emperor photographed in Dorset. Photo: Roger Hewitt.
Thank you all very much for sending in your records – please continue to do so, even for the common butterflies – it is only by understanding butterflies that we can help them flourish.
If you are interested, the Dorset List is:
- 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
- OrangeTip
- Painted Lady
- Peacock
- 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 Brown
- White Admiral
- White-letter Hairstreak
- Wood White