National Learn About Butterflies Day

​14th March is National Learn About Butterflies Day. Spring and summer are just right around the corner, so it is an excellent time to take a few minutes and learn something new about butterflies and appreciate their beauty.

Butterflies in Cornwall

There are 59 Butterflies in the UK, 57 resident and 2 regular migrants. There are 36 Butterfly in Cornwall, 34 resident and 2 regular migrants, 1 introduced / re-introduced and 1 extinct.
 
Cornish Resident Butterflies:
1. Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni
2. Brown Argus Aricia agestis
3. Comma Polygonia c-album
4. Common Blue Polyommatus icarus
5. Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja
6. Dingy Skipper Erynnis tages
7. Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
8. Grayling Hipparchia semele
9. Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi
10. Green-veined White Pieris napi
11. Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae
12. Heath Fritillary Melitaea athalia
13. Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus
14. Large Skipper Ochlodes sylvanus
15. Large White Pieris brassicae
16. Marbled White Melanargia galathea
17. Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia
18. Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
19. Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines
20. Peacock Aglais io
21. Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria euphrosyne
22. Purple Hairstreak Favonius quercus
23. Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
24. Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus
25. Silver-studded Blue Plebejus argus
26. Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia
27. Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas
28. Small Heath Coenonympha pamphilus
29. Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris
30. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary Boloria selene
31. Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae
32. Small White Pieris rapae
33. Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
34. Wall Brown Lasiommata megera
 
Regular Migrants:
1. Clouded Yellow Colias croceus
2. Painted Lady Vanessa cardui
 
Rare Migrant:
1. Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus

Introduced/Reintroduced:
1. Large Blue Glaucopsyche arion
                          
Extinct:
1. Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros

Fun Facts about Butterflies

Butterflies and Moths are a group of insects called Lepidoptera.
 
A lepidopterist or aurelian is a person who specialises in the study of Lepidoptera, an order encompassing butterflies, skippers and moths.
 
Lepidopterophobia is the fear of butterflies and moths.
 
A collective name for a group of butterflies is called a “Kaleidoscope”. However others have called it a “Swarm” or “Rabble”.
 
The collective name for a group of caterpillars is an “army”.
 
Antarctica is the only continent on which no Lepidoptera have been found.
 
Butterflies and moths are the only insect that has scaly wings.
 
Butterflies have the sense of smell, taste and touch. They taste with their feet. They live on an all-liquid diet. They  are cold blooded insects. They are territorial.
 
Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing is the largest butterfly in the world. It was named after Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Female species are larger than males with wingspan than can reach 31cm and a body length of 8cm. This gigantic butterfly lives in the forests of Oro Province in Papua New Guinea.

Western Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis is the smallest butterfly in the world which has a half an inch wingspan.
 
Palawan Birdwing or Triangle Birdwing Trogonoptera trojana is one of the 4th largest butterfly in the world. This butterfly is native to Palawan in the Philippine. It has a wingspan of about 18cm and flies the whole year.
 
Magellan Birdwing Troides magellanus is one of the 6th largest butterflies in the world. This large and striking birdwing butterfly can be found in the Philippines. Obviously, this butterfly is named after the explorer Ferdinand Magellan who was killed in the Philippines in 1521.
 
British Swallowtail Papilio machaon britannicus is the largest resident butterfly in the British Isles with a wingspan of around 10 cm.
 
Silver-washed Fritillary Argynnis paphia is the largest fritillary in the British Isles and gets its name from the beautiful streaks of silver found on the underside of the wings.
 
Small Blue Cupido minimus also known as “Little Blue” is the smallest resident butterfly in the British Isles.
 
About 70 percent of the Philippines’ nearly 21,000 recorded insect species are found only in the country. In addition about one-third of the 915 butterflies found here are endemic to the country.

Butterfly in Different Languages

Cornish-----Tykki Duw
Dutch-----Vlinder
Finnish-----Perhonen
French-----Papillon
German-----Schmetterling
Greek-----Petalou'da
Hawaiian-----Pulelehua
Icelandic-----Fithrildi
Irish-----Feileacan
Italian-----Farfalla
Japanese-----Choochoo
Korean-----Navi
Latin-----Papilio
Portuguese-----Borboleta
Spanish-----Mariposa
Tagalog-----Paruparo