CRASH COURSE IN BUTTERFLY IDENTIFICATION

© Tomás Murray 2015

Photograph/catch and releaseOne of the fastest ways of gaining confidence with identification. To avoiddamaging the butterfly, make sure you place enough tissue paper in thecontainer to ensure the butterfly crawls, rather than flies, within.

For help with identification:

1. Email your butterfly photo to:

tmurray@biodiversityireland.ie

2. Post a photo to our Facebook page:

Monitoring Ireland’s Insects

3. Buy an identification swatch:

http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/home-page/shop/

4. There’s a smart phone app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.biodiversityireland.butterfly

Andrew Fenner has developed a freely available Android smart phone app –download from Google Play

Once you know what species you’ve seen, not matter how common or rare…..

Don’t forget to submit the record!http://records.biodiversityireland.ie/

Bits of a butterfly

Head Antenna

Thorax

Abdomen

Eyespot Forewing

Hindwing

© Rodney Daunt

Hindwing

Forewing

Bits of a butterfly

Outer margin

© Fionn Moore

Hairstreaks & Coppers

Brown Hairstreak – Thecla betulae Green Hairstreak – Callophrys rubi

© Isobel Abbott © Clare Heardman

Purple Hairstreak – Quercusia quercus

© Sander van der Molen

Small Copper – Lycaena phlaeas

© Liam Lysaght

The species in this group range from being widespread to rare, but

in all cases are never abundant in any one

location.

Hairstreaks & Coppers

Brown Hairstreak – Thecla betulae

© Isobel Abbott

Purple Hairstreak – Quercusia quercus

© Sander van der Molen

Confined to scrub areas around the Burren and

Lough Corrib.

Very elusive, flies in the canopy of old oak trees.

Probably under-recorded.

Hairstreaks & Coppers

Green Hairstreak – Callophrys rubi

© Isobel Abbott © Clare Heardman

Small Copper – Lycaena phlaeas

© Liam Lysaght

Always rests with wings closed showing green

underside. Larval foodplantis Gorse, Broom and Bird’s-

foot Trefoil

Fast flying, so normally spotted on flowers.

Larval foodplants are Sorrel and Docks.

http://butterflies.biodiversityireland.ie

tmurray@biodiversityireland.ie

Don’t forget to submit your records!

http://records.biodiversityireland.ie/

Thank you to all the recorders who kindly allowed us to use their photographs for this guide!