Butterflies for insomnia

[Jack Harrison]

Silly little game I have devised.  Butterflies by species are scored out of ten.

A = Appearance 0 to 5 points

S = Scarcity 0 to 3 points with higher score for the most rare (Central-southern England).
Scarcity might not be true scarcity but difficulty observing.

C = Charisma. 0 to 2 points.  C very subjective.  For example, a long distant migrant would get a big score.  So too would a lively butterfly like Small Copper.

At the bottom of my list is Small Skipper.
A = 0, S = 0, C = 0 Total 0

Top of my list Purple Emperor
A = 5, S = 2, C = 2 Total = 9

Red Admiral is close behind
A = 5, S = 1, C = 2 Total = 8

A possible total of 10 for American Painted Lady, but I have no knowledge of its ‘charisma’.

A surprisingly high total for Holly Blue.  In this case, C is given rather loosely as a maximum.  My score is particularly influenced by my first encounter as a seven-year-old.  I was already familiar with low-flying ground-hugging Common Blues, but to see a blue on a bush was quite something.  My only ‘butterfly guide’ (Children’s Encyclopaedia) had pictures but no details about behaviour.

I have usually fallen asleep before I have got very far in my list.

 So what (and why) comes out top (and bottom) for others?

Jack

[David M]

Female Brown Hairstreak for me

A = 5 (it's a work of art, especially the undersides)

B = 3 (not mega-rare but elusive and certainly not common)

C = 2 (love the way they find you rather than the other way around. Very enigmatic)

[petesmith]

I agree with you David!

Amongst the UK species at least, Brown Hairstreak comes top for me - same scores, same reasons.

Small Heath would have come bottom when I was younger, but I have changed my mind over the years. Not sure what would come bottom for me now - next time I can't sleep I'll go through the lot and score them all

Now if you open this up to the European species as well, I would really start to struggle...

[David M]

...Small Heath would have come bottom when I was younger, but I have changed my mind over the years. Not sure what would come bottom for me now - next time I can't sleep I'll go through the lot and score them all

I think Jack's nailed it with Small Skipper.

Male Small Whites are pretty dull too.

If Wood White was common I'd have them up there too, but they score points due to their scarcity.

[Charles Nicol]

Speckled Woods are quite uninspiring

[millerd]

For me, the bottom slot has to go to the humble and ubiquitous Meadow Brown. They are far from scarce, are rather lacking in the attractiveness stakes, and don't seem to display any notably charismatic behavioural quirks. For me, Small Skippers, Small Heaths and Speckled Woods all score more in at least one of the categories.

Of all the butterflies I've seen in the UK, it's hard to say what is at the top of the tree, but it may be the Queen of Spain by a whisker - stunningly marked, rarely encountered, and with some interesting behaviour if you're lucky enough to spend a day with them. After that, Purple Emperors, Red Admirals and Holly Blues...

Dave

[David M]

Speckled Woods are quite uninspiring

Au contraire, for me they are rather engaging, with their habit of defending their territories so resolutely. I find them rather attractive too.

[Padfield]

Call me a wishy-washy liberal, but I give all butterflies 5 for appearance and 2 for charisma. All my children are beautiful and special!

Guy

[Charles Nicol]

Speckled Woods are quite uninspiring

Au contraire, for me they are rather engaging, with their habit of defending their territories so resolutely. I find them rather attractive too.

compared to Meadow Browns they are dazzling

[Roger Gibbons]

I recall some time ago, a well-known conservationist (can’t remember who) was asked what is your favourite butterfly. He thought for a moment and said “whichever one I am looking at that moment”. Yep, that’s it in a nutshell.

Speckled Wood uninspiring? OK, this is a female of the nominate form from southern France. I’m happy to be uninspired.

No-one has mentioned Dingy Skippers. They can indeed get dingy with ageing, but fresh ones like this one are really quite visually appealing.

Roger

[David M]

..Speckled Wood uninspiring? OK, this is a female of the nominate form from southern France. I’m happy to be uninspired

And even that isn't as attractive as Canary Speckled Wood, which itself is less attractive than Madeira Speckled Wood!

..No-one has mentioned Dingy Skippers. They can indeed get dingy with ageing, but fresh ones like this one are really quite visually appealing.

A fresh Dingy is a delightful thing. I hate the name Dingy.

'Silver-Dusted Skipper' would be more apt.

[Chris L]

This isn't a 'silly game' Jack. I think it's genius.

Lots of high scoring butterflies for me. I am going to give a particular shout out to the cute little Grizzled Skipper though.

Of the lower scoring butterflies, I am going to mention Small, Large and Green Veined Whites. Sorry David, the Dingy Skipper too. Hopefully redeeming myself a little, I find the Speckled Wood an extremely engaging, interesting and attractive butterfly.