Sightings summary: 2025

Annual overview of butterflies reported to the Dorset branch website*

57,423 adult butterflies of 49 species reported to the website this year.

Recording activity

Number of species records by date seen. Scroll right for key.

Top butterflies

Tip: Click chart segments to display details.

Species count

Total adult butterflies reported by species.

Tip: Hover over or click truncated bars to display totals.

First sightings

Earliest dates on which adult butterflies were reported to the website.

Tip: Click column headers to sort table data.
Species Date
Adonis Blue 2025-04-30
American Painted Lady 2025-09-22
Brimstone 2025-01-14
Brown Argus 2025-04-27
Brown Hairstreak 2025-07-04
Chalkhill Blue 2025-07-04
Clouded Yellow 2025-06-13
Comma 2025-03-09
Common Blue 2025-04-26
Dark Green Fritillary 2025-05-12
Dingy Skipper 2025-04-09
Duke of Burgundy 2025-05-01
Essex Skipper 2025-06-17
Gatekeeper 2025-06-08
Glanville Fritillary 2025-04-26
Grayling 2025-06-14
Green Hairstreak 2025-04-09
Green-veined White 2025-03-31
Grizzled Skipper 2025-04-04
Holly Blue 2025-03-30
Large Skipper 2025-05-07
Large Tortoiseshell 2025-03-19
Large White 2025-03-31
Lulworth Skipper 2025-05-02
Marbled White 2025-05-25
Marsh Fritillary 2025-04-27
Meadow Brown 2025-05-02
Orange Tip 2025-03-30
Painted Lady 2025-02-25
Peacock 2025-02-03
Purple Emperor 2025-06-29
Purple Hairstreak 2025-06-14
Red Admiral 2025-01-02
Ringlet 2025-06-07
Silver-spotted Skipper 2025-07-25
Silver-studded Blue 2025-05-16
Silver-washed Fritillary 2025-06-09
Small Blue 2025-04-27
Small Copper 2025-03-31
Small Heath 2025-04-09
Small Skipper 2025-05-20
Small Tortoiseshell 2025-03-01
Small White 2025-03-04
Speckled Wood 2025-03-09
Swallowtail 2025-07-16
Wall Brown 2025-04-10
White Admiral 2025-06-03
White-letter Hairstreak 2025-06-13
Wood White 2025-04-27

Flight times

Duration between earliest and latest reported sightings of adult butterflies.

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*Note: The charts shown on this page are drawn only from casual sightings submitted to this website. They are therefore not statistically significant, but do serve as an indication of what’s going on in the Dorset butterfly world. The records from this website will be added to a lot more data collected throughout the year, and used to compile the five-yearly Butterfly Atlases for Dorset and the UK.

Explore the sightings archive.