UK Butterflies

Building a Community of Responsible Butterfly Enthusiasts in Britain & Ireland

Species Distributions

This page contains a summary of the distribution of each species.

Alignment with Agassiz (2013)

The distribution categories are based on Agassiz (2013) which contains 3 lists of species:

  1. Main. This list comprises resident and transitory resident species, species believed to be extinct, immigrants and some species that have probably been imported but have been found in the wild. A UK Butterflies refinement is as follows:
    • 1.0 Resident or Regular Migrant. The species is a resident of, or a regular migrant to, Britain and/or Ireland.
    • 1.1 Extinct. The species is known to have occurred in Britain and/or Ireland but is now considered extinct.
    • 1.2 Rare Migrant. The species is occasionally recorded in Britain and/or Ireland and is believed to arrive unassisted.
    • 1.3 Unknown. The species has been recorded in Britain and/or Ireland and may have been a resident or had the potential to arrive unassisted, but any records are few in number.
  2. Adventive. This list comprises species that have been recorded in Britain and/or Ireland, but cannot be regarded as part of our fauna, and are probably unlikely to recur, such as those imported on produce.
  3. Questionable. This list comprises those records that are either erroneous or cannot be confirmed.

Core Species Distributions

Several pages on UK Butterflies simplify the characterisation in Agassiz (2013), and simply refer to 'core' species. Core species are those in categories 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 above, and are those shown below.

1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.1 Extinct
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.1 Extinct
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.1 Extinct
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.1 Extinct
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant
1.2 Rare Migrant