List of butterflies of Ireland

Template:Short description 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.

Template:IUCN status	Extinct	No reasonable doubt that the last individual has died.
Template:IUCN status	Extinct in the wild	Known only to survive in captivity or as a naturalized populations well outside its previous range.
Template:IUCN status	Critically endangered	The species is in imminent risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status	Endangered	The species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status	Vulnerable	The species is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Template:IUCN status	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.
Template:IUCN status	Least concern	There are no current identifiable risks to the species.
Template:IUCN status	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 Template:IUCN status County Wexford only. Origin uncertain.
• Small skipper - Thymelicus sylvestris Template:IUCN status Confirmed in County Kildare in 2011 and 2012.

Subfamily Pyrginae (spread-winged skippers)

• Dingy skipper – Erynnis tages Template:IUCN status 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 Template:IUCN status Confined to the Burren area of Co. Clare and Co. Galway (here sympatric with Leptidea juvernica)
• Cryptic wood white - Leptidea juvernica Template:IUCN status stat. nov. All regions of Ireland. Not known in Britain.

File:Leptidea.sinapis.jpg

Wood white

Subfamily Coliadinae

• Clouded yellow – Colias croceus Template:IUCN status Migrant and breeding species
• Brimstone – Gonepteryx rhamni Template:IUCN status Burren and Midlands. The Irish subspecies is gravesi Huggins, 1956

Subfamily Pierinae

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

Family Lycaenidae (gossamer-winged butterflies)

File:Callophrys rubi-01 (xndr).jpg

Green hairstreak

Subfamily Theclinae

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

Subfamily Lycaeninae

File:Common Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) I2 IMG 3282.jpg

Small copper

• Small copper – Lycaena phlaeas Template:IUCN status The Irish subspecies is hibernica Goodson, 1948

Subfamily Polyommatinae

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

Family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies)

Subfamily Nymphalinae

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

File:Vanessa January 2008-3.jpg

Red admiral peeping from behind a Hebe × franciscana

Subfamily Heliconiinae (longwings)

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

File:Argynnis paphia mating.jpg

Argynnis paphia mating

Subfamily Satyrinae (browns)

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

Vagrant, adventive, extinct and intercepts and exotic species

File:Kleiner Fuchs 1.jpg

Aglais urticae – small tortoiseshell

Extinct

• Small mountain ringlet – Erebia epiphron Template:IUCN status
• Large copper - Lycaena dispar Template:IUCN status

Vagrants

File:Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia) I IMG 7028.jpg

Queen of Spain fritillary

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

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. Template:ISBN
• 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. Template:ISBN
• 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