Butterflies: Advanced

Purple emperor

The males of the purple emperor shimmer blue-violet depending on the light. It lives high in the canopy of damp forests.

💡 Did you know? Rather than flowers it prefers dung, carrion or puddles to take up minerals.

Camberwell beauty

The Camberwell beauty is a large, dark brown butterfly with a cream border. It overwinters as an adult and appears very early in the year.

💡 Did you know? It can live for several months: unusually long for a butterfly.

Apollo

The Apollo is a large white mountain butterfly with red eye spots. It lives in sunny rocky and montane areas and is highly endangered.

💡 Did you know? It is strictly protected: collecting it is forbidden.

Scarce swallowtail

The scarce swallowtail glides elegantly through warm hilly country on long wing 'sails'. Its caterpillars live on blackthorn and fruit trees.

💡 Did you know? It often 'sails' for minutes without a single wingbeat.

Clouded Apollo

The clouded Apollo is a delicately veined, partly translucent butterfly of damp woods and meadows. It is rare and protected.

💡 Did you know? Its caterpillars feed only on corydalis.

White admiral

The white admiral is a dark butterfly with a white band that glides elegantly through open woodland. Its caterpillars live on honeysuckle.

💡 Did you know? It often glides with wings spread rather than flapping.

Poplar admiral

The poplar admiral is one of the largest native woodland butterflies, dark with a white band. It is rare and lives on aspens.

💡 Did you know? The males gather at damp patches and dung.

Brown hairstreak

The brown hairstreak is a small butterfly with a kidney-shaped mark and a fine 'tail'. It lives hidden in hedges with blackthorn.

💡 Did you know? It flies late in the year, into autumn.

Purple hairstreak

In the purple hairstreak the males shimmer violet-blue. It lives high in oak canopies and is hard to spot from below.

💡 Did you know? Its caterpillars feed on oak buds and flowers.

Large copper

The large copper glows bright orange-red and lives by damp ditches and meadows with dock. It is strictly protected.

💡 Did you know? In Germany it is a 'responsibility species' for whose protection the country bears special responsibility.

Wall brown

The wall brown is an orange-brown butterfly that likes to bask on warm stones and walls. It occurs on dry, rocky ground.

💡 Did you know? When basking it often lays its wings flat on the warm stone.

Heath fritillary

The heath fritillary bears an orange-brown chequered pattern. It lives on woodland meadows and in open forest.

💡 Did you know? Its caterpillars at first live together in communal silk nests.

Silver-spotted skipper

The silver-spotted skipper is a small, swift butterfly with a stout body and comma-shaped marks. It often sits with wings fanned.

💡 Did you know? Skippers fly so fast and jerkily that they are easily mistaken for moths.

Large skipper

The large skipper is orange-brown and common on flower-rich meadows. Like all skippers it has a stout, furry body.

💡 Did you know? At rest it often holds fore- and hindwings at different angles: typical of the family.

Jersey tiger

The Jersey tiger is a striking, day-flying tiger moth with black-and-white striped forewings and bright red hindwings.

💡 Did you know? It is a strictly protected species across the EU.

Giant peacock moth

The giant peacock moth is the largest moth in Europe, with a wingspan of up to 16 cm. Each wing has a large eye spot.

💡 Did you know? The adults have no working proboscis and do not feed: they live only a few days.

Emperor moth

The emperor moth is a day- and night-active moth with four large eye spots. The males fly by day searching for females.

💡 Did you know? The males can smell out receptive females with their feathery antennae from kilometres away.

Privet hawk moth

The privet hawk moth is a large hawk moth with a pink-and-black striped body. Its big caterpillars feed on privet and lilac.

💡 Did you know? Like many hawk moths it sips nectar from deep flowers while hovering.

Eyed hawk-moth

The eyed hawk-moth flashes blue eye spots on its pink hindwings to scare off enemies. Its caterpillars live on willows and poplars.

💡 Did you know? At rest the eye spots are hidden: they appear in a flash only when it opens its wings.

Garden tiger moth

The garden tiger moth is a robust moth with brown-and-white patterned forewings and red-and-black hindwings. Its hairy caterpillar is called a 'woolly bear'.

💡 Did you know? When threatened it secretes a toxic fluid and warns enemies with bright red colours.