List of butterflies of Ireland explained

This is a list of Irish butterflies, past and present.Details on specific species are relevant to the Irish populations and some details may not be consistent with the species in other parts of its range.

	Extinct	No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
	Extinct in the wild	Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
	Critically endangered	The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
	Endangered	The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
	Vulnerable	The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
	Near threatened	The species does not meet any of the criteria that would categorise it as risking extinction but it is likely to do so in the future.
	Least concern	There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
	Data deficient	There is inadequate information to make an assessment of the risks to this species.

Family Hesperiidae (skippers)

Subfamily Hesperiinae (grass skippers)

• Essex skipper - Thymelicus lineola County Wexford only. Origin uncertain.
• Small skipper - Thymelicus sylvestris Confirmed in County Kildare in 2011 and 2012.

Subfamily Pyrginae (spread-winged skippers)

• Dingy skipper – Erynnis tages Mainly Midlands and West. The subspecies baynesi Huggins, 1956 is recorded from the Burren region of Co. Clare and Galway. The populations elsewhere in Ireland are presumably the type subspecies.

Family Pieridae (whites)

Subfamily Dismorphiinae

• Wood white – Leptidea sinapis Confined to the Burren area of Co. Clare and Co. Galway (here sympatric with Leptidea juvernica)
• Cryptic wood white - Leptidea juvernica stat. nov.^{[1] [2] [3]} All regions of Ireland. Not known in Britain.

Subfamily Coliadinae

• Clouded yellow – Colias croceus Migrant and breeding species^[4]
• Brimstone – Gonepteryx rhamni Burren and Midlands. The Irish subspecies is gravesi Huggins, 1956

Subfamily Pierinae

• Large white – Pieris brassicae
• Small white – Pieris rapae
• Green-veined white – Pieris napi The subspecies britannica (Muller & Kautz, 1939) is only found in Ireland. The British subspecies is sabellicae (Stephens, 1827)
• Orange tip – Anthocharis cardamines The Irish subspecies is hibernica (Williams, 1916)

Family Lycaenidae (gossamer-winged butterflies)

Subfamily Theclinae

• Green hairstreak – Callophrys rubi Scattered distribution.
• Brown hairstreak – Thecla betulae Restricted to Burren and regions north to Lough Mask, Co. Mayo where recent spread seems to be happening.^[5]
• Purple hairstreak – Neozephyrus quercus Restricted to a few woodland sites.

Subfamily Lycaeninae

• Small copper – Lycaena phlaeas The Irish subspecies is hibernica Goodson, 1948

Subfamily Polyommatinae

• Small blue – Cupido minimus Few regions. Restricted to coastal dunes, limestone grasslands and quarries.
• Common blue – Polyommatus icarus The Irish subspecies is mariscolore (Kane, 1893)
• Holly blue – Celastrina argiolus Found across most of Ireland having spread significantly north and west.

Family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies)

Subfamily Nymphalinae

• Red admiral – Vanessa atalanta resident reinforced by migrant populations.
• Painted lady – Vanessa cardui Migrant.
• Peacock – Aglais io
• Small tortoiseshell – Aglais urticae
• Comma – Polygonia c-album recent colonist and now found across most of island having spread from south-east.^[6]

Subfamily Heliconiinae (longwings)

• Pearl-bordered fritillary – Boloria euphrosyne Only found in the Burren^[7]
• Dark green fritillary – Speyeria aglaja Coastal species also inland in the Burren and Wicklow
• Silver-washed fritillary – Argynnis paphia Scattered throughout Ireland, more common in southern regions.
• Marsh fritillary – Euphydryas aurinia infrasubspecies hibernica Birchall, 1873. Throughout Ireland but mainly Central and West Ireland.

Subfamily Satyrinae (browns)

• Speckled wood – Pararge aegeria
• Wall – Lasiommata megera
• Grayling – Hipparchia semele Coastal and limestone districts. The Irish subspecies are clarensis de Lattin, 1952 (County Clare) and hibernica Howarth, 1971
• Gatekeeper – Pyronia tithonus Restricted to South and South-East coasts.
• Meadow brown – Maniola jurtina The Irish subspecies is iernes Graves, 1930
• Ringlet – Aphantopus hyperantus
• Small heath – Coenonympha pamphilus Scattered throughout Ireland.Prefers drier grassland on well-drained soils.
• Large heath – Coenonympha tullia Restricted to bogs and absent from most of south and east where habitats largely non-existent.

Vagrant, adventive, extinct and intercepts and exotic species

Extinct

• Small mountain ringlet – Erebia epiphron ^[8]
• Large copper - Lycaena dispar

Vagrants

• Pale clouded yellow – Colias hyale
• Berger's clouded yellow – Colias alfacariensis^[9]
• Short-tailed blue – Cupido argiades (imported on fennel from Italy)
• Geranium bronze – Cacyreus marshalli (imported on geraniums)
• Camberwell beauty – Nymphalis antiopa
• Map – Araschnia levana (formerly introduced and bred)
• Queen of Spain fritillary – Issoria lathonia
• Monarch – Danaus plexippus
• American painted lady – Vanessa virginiensis
• Swallowtail – Papilio machaon

See also

• List of moths of Ireland

References

• Emmet, A.M.; J. Heath; et al. (Ed.), 1990. "The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland". The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 7 Part 1 (Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae). Harley Books, Colchester, UK.
• K. G. M. Bond; R. Nash & J. P. O'Connor, An Annotated Checklist of the Irish Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera). The Irish Biogeographical Society in association with the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, 2006.
• Harding, J. & Jacob, M. (2013). "Addition of Small Skipper butterfly (Thymelicus sylvestris) to the Irish List and notes on the Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 32: 142-144.
• Mazel, R. (2001). "Leptidea sinapis L., 1758 - L. reali Reissinger, 1989, le point de la situation (Lepidoptera: Pieridae, Dismorphiinae)". Linneana Belgica. 18: 199-202.
• Nash, D., T. Boyd & D Hardiman (2012). Ireland's Butterflies: A Review. The Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, Dublin.
• Wilson, C. J.; Goodwin, J. & Bond, K. 2007. "New Irish record of the small skipper butterfly Thymelicus sylvestris (Poda) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae)". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 28 (9): 385-386. (Erroneous and later corrected by the authors. Refers to Essex skipper Thymelicus lineola.)

External links

• Irish Butterflies
• Butterflies and Moths of Northern Ireland
• Butterfly Ireland
• NHM Images of Ireland forms and subspecies on this site. Type Ireland into the search box.
• Wexford Naturalists' Field Club Essex Skipper
• Regan, E.C., Nelson, B., Aldwell, B., Bertrand, C., Bond, K., Harding, J., Nash, D.,Nixon, D. and Wilson, C.J. Ireland Red List No. 4: Butterflies
• Database of Irish Lepidoptera.1 Macrohabitats, microsites and traits of Noctuidae and butterflies
• Ireland Red List No. 4: Butterflies

Notes and References

1. Web site: Barkham. Patrick. New species of butterfly flying in Northern Ireland. The Guardian. 12 October 2011. 13 July 2011.
2. Dincă. Vlad. Lukhtanov, Vladimir A.. Talavera, Gerard. Vila, Roger. Unexpected layers of cryptic diversity in wood white Leptidea butterflies. Nature Communications. 30 April 2011. 2. 324. 10.1038/NCOMMS1329. 12 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104013/http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/15889380/2046998143/name/Dinca+et+al+2011_juvernica.pdf. 2 April 2015. dead. dmy-all. free.
3. Nelson, B.; Hughes, M. & Bond, K. (2011). "The distribution of Leptidea sinapis (Linnaeus, 1758) and L. reali Reissinger, 1989 (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in Ireland". Entomologist's Gazette. 62: 213–233.
4. Walsh, F. & Walsh, M. (2014). "The Clouded Yellow butterfly (Colias croceus Fourcroy) overwintering at the Raven, Co. Wexford". Irish Naturalists' Journal, 33: 89-92.
5. Gammell, M., & Carlin, C. (2021). "First records of the Brown Hairstreak Butterfly (Thecla betulae) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Co. Mayo, Ireland". Irish Naturalists' Journal, 38: 55-56.
6. Harding, J., & Power, B. (2016). "The Comma (Polygonia c-album (L.)) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) breeding in Ireland with notes on larval development". Irish Naturalists' Journal. 35 (1): 63–65.
7. Regan, E.C. & Meagher, O. (2011). "The distribution and habitat of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly Boloria euphrosyne (Linnaeus) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Ireland". Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society. 35: 150-161.
8. Peter Eeles The Irish Mountain Ringlet dispar online
9. Web site: Berger's Clouded Yellow . . 18 October 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330062529/http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/Butterfly/32/Butterfly.html?ButterflyId=82 . 30 March 2012 .