10 Fun Facts about the Butterflies and Moths you can spot this Big Butterfly Count

Here are 10 facts about some of the amazing butterflies and moths on your Big Butterfly Count ID Checklist that may help you when looking out for and identifying them!

As we all familiarise ourselves with different species that are on the ID checklist of the Big Butterfly Count and decide where the best spots are to count them, now is also a great time for some new facts about the critters we’re hoping to spot this year. Below are ten fun facts about species that can be found in all four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, to get to know them a little bit more and maybe help in identifying them. 

1. Striking colours that can change: Six-spot burnet

Sometimes, the outermost spots on the Six-Spot Burnet can become fused, making identification rather tricky. To make matters even harder, on very rare occasions, the red colour of their underwing can alternatively be yellow. They are exciting to spot though so if you see some - make sure you log them for the Count.

2. Because wearing the same outfit is embarrassing: Common blue

The Common Blue is a striking colour and one of the most widely spread species of butterfly across Britain and Ireland making it a well-known example. However, did you know that the colour of the upperwings of females varies greatly – making you think twice!

While the female’s upperwings are completely brown in southern England, they are mainly blue in Western Ireland and Scotland, and there are various colours within local populations too! 

3. Eat your greens: Silver Y 

The Silver Y moth surprisingly  gets its name from the y-marking on each of its forewings. However, did you know that the Silver Y has a particular taste for garden peas and cabbage as a caterpillar?

4. The great traveller: Painted Lady

Did you know that every year the Painted Lady makes the long-distance journey from the fringes of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia all the way to mainland Europe? Here they recolonise on the continent as well as in Britain and Ireland. 

5. A master of camouflage: The Peacock Butterfly

The Peacock’s striking pattern of eyespots on their wings had evolved to startle or confuse predators. To humans, this is what makes it an easily recognisable one for you to tick off this Big Butterfly Count! This isn’t the only way the Peacock has developed clever ways to survive. They also have very dark undersides to their wings to make them look like dead leaves!

6. Omnipresent beauty: Meadow Brown

The Meadow Brown is the most present butterfly in a range of habitats including gardens, parks, and cemeteries. The other grasslands they enjoy range from undercliffs to, hedgerows, and as their name would suggest; meadows. So, if you pop up near any grassy space for your Big Butterfly Count you can keep your eyes peeled for this particularly abundant butterfly.

7. Bring in the big boys: Red Admiral

The Red Admiral has a wing span range of 67-72mm (male to female). This is one of the longest species on our checklist, the omnipresent Meadow Brown, for comparison, only spans across 50-55mm and the Small White just 48mm!

8. We like to call her ‘dotty’: Large White

The key way to tell the difference between a male and a female of the large white is the two spots on the forewings. If these are present, this is a female, if not this is a male. Both have black tips on the forewings, however, which also extend down the wing edge.

 

9. The great comeback: Speckled Wood

In the most recent two decades, the Speckled Wood has recolonised many areas after having contracted in the late 1800s and early 1900s. However, from the 1920s this species has recolonised areas in eastern and northern England and Scotland. Their distribution numbers have, in fact, increased by 71% since the 1970s and they can be seen in all four countries across Britain. 

10. Flying in style: Ringlet

The ringlet has its own way of flying as it ‘bobs’ through the air, even through foggy conditions when other species stop flying due to the weather. While the weather from July-August is hopefully sunny, even if cloudy conditions descend at least there will be the trusty Ringlet about!

And there we have it! These are also 10 extra reasons why taking part in the Big Butterfly Count is so important. Without this data and an understanding of the different species, we would not be able to carry out research and understand their health, and the further implications this has on our environment.