We need your help in recording butterflies in Dorset in the areas where none or few have been reported over the last four years. Butterflies across the UK are counted in five-year cycles, and 2024 is the last of the current set.

We have a map to show you where no or few butterflies have been reported to us, which we call our “White Holes” map. Coloured kilometre squares indicate where butterflies have been sighted, so those squares which remain uncoloured show the gaps in recording.

The map above is a snapshot of the recording situation on 1 March 2024, but as the year goes on you need to refer to the live White Holes map for a more up to date picture.

If you would like a list of White Holes in grid reference order, or a copy of the White Holes map, please contact our County Butterfly Recorder, Robin George, via the Contact page on this website.

We can only help our butterflies (and moths) by knowing how they are doing in the various areas of Dorset. The chart below, for example, shows how Silver-studded Blues have decreased over the last ten years in the west of Dorset, despite doing well elsewhere in the county. Knowing this enables us to look at the variables which affect butterfly numbers: weather, habitat, etc. to see what we can do to remedy this situation.

Please help us by recording all the butterflies you see, and making a particular effort to fill our white holes.