They require little introduction and, in most cases, minimal information regarding their identity because, unlike most of the other insect groups, butterflies are familiar species well-covered by field guides and online resources.

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Classification follows the official 'Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles', which includes all the butterflies and moths that have been recorded in Great Britain and Ireland. The list is in taxonomic order with each species, or variant thereof, given a two-part index number (based on the Dewey Decimal system) where the first part defines the family and the second part the species. The butterfly superfamily Papilionoidea covers a relatively small range starting 56.001 with the Swallowtail and ending 61.020 with the Chalkhill Blue.

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The British List includes 57 native/breeding species, plus two regular migrants; the Painted Lady and Clouded Yellow. The now rare Large Tortoiseshell is also included on some lists as a further once native, but now sporadic migrant, that may occasionally be seen.

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There are a number of rare and/or local species that I'm not going to encounter on my home patch which, for the record, are Scotch Argus, Northern Brown Argus, Mountain Ringlet, Chequered Skipper, Large Heath, Large Blue and Swallowtail, plus five that occur in the south, but are not seen in Dorset, Cryptic Wood White, Glanville Fritillary, Heath Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary and Black Hairstreak.

 

That leaves a total of 48 species, which is precisely the number that are featured on the 'Butterfly Conservation | Dorset' website. It would have been my target number except that the Wood White has only been recorded from a small area in the extreme west of the county, and the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary is restricted to a protected site with no public access.

 

Despite now being down to 46 possible species, it's still a very respectable number that's probably as good, if not better, than you could find in any county and, for me with all my other insect interests, a target number that will take a bit of time to achieve. Although I'm primarily talking about the Dorset list, I'm on the border of Hampshire and, therefore, have a few local sites such as Martin Down and the New Forest just a short drive away, which obviously gives me a bit more scope for a few of the more difficult or scarce species.

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My personal tally currently stands at 37 species, which isn't bad given that the first record is a photo of a Marbled White taken in June 2020. Ignoring the fact that I would like to get some better photos of a few species, those that I haven't yet seen are Lulworth Skipper (most likely at Durlston CP), Silver-spotted Skipper (only at Fontmell Down), Wall Brown (some coastal areas), Purple Hairstreak (Alners Gorse), Small Blue (Durlston or Martin Down), Silver-studded Blue (best site locally is Slop Bog) and, the most difficult, the Duke of Burgundy (probably better chances in Hampshire than Dorset), Purple Emperor (Garston Wood if extremely lucky) and Large Tortoiseshell (a possibility on Portland).

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Whilst the following list is in taxonomic and checklist order, the associated 'family' accounts link to traditional butterfly groups that keep like species together - 'Skippers', 'Whites and Sulphurs', 'Browns', 'Fritillaries and Metalmarks', 'Vanessids', 'Coppers and Hairsteaks' and finally the 'Blues'.