Category: Butterflies & Moths
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Silver-studded Blue
Silver-studded Blues are on the cusp of emerging. Look for the bright blue males flitting among the heather and grasses. Photo: © Natural England/Allan Drewitt
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Brimstone
Only occasionally recorded on The Lizard and in the west of Cornwall, elsewhere Brimstones are among the first butterflies to be spotted in early spring. Photo: Amanda Scott
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Cinnabar
Cinnabar moths are on the wing from mid-May to early August, and their yellow and black banded caterpillars munch on Ragwort through the summer. Photo: Amanda Scott
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Common Heath
This day-flying moth species is on the wing in June across heathlands on The Lizard. Photo: Sarah Board
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Purple Hairstreak
This pretty butterfly is not uncommon, but hard to spot as it spends most of its time flying at the tops of oak trees. You might see one in July […]
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Silver-washed Fritillary
The Silver-washed Fritillary is the largest of the UK Fritillaries. Look out for it at the height of summer, in July and August. Photo: Ray Surridge
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Emperor Moth
The spectacular Emperor moth is on the wing in April and May. Photo: Emily Hobson
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Comma
The delightful Comma butterfly, with its raggedy wings, can be spotted through the summer months and into early autumn. Photo: Dougy Wright
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Garden Tiger
The spectacular Garden Tiger moth is on the wing in July and August, followed from August to June by its ‘Woolly Bear caterpillars. Photo: Ben Sale from UK, CC BY […]
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Gatekeeper
Mid to late July into early August is the peak time for the chocolate-and-orange Gatekeeper butterfly. Look out for them round hedgerows and scrubby areas. Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC […]
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Privet Hawk-moth
This lovely Privet Hawkmoth was spotted at Caerthillian, resting on a fence. Photo: Steve Townsend
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Grass Eggar
The sea-cliffs of the south-west, including those of The Lizard, are among the best places to find the Grass Eggar moth, a nationally scarce species. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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Peacock
Peacock butterflies emerge into the sunshine from their winter sleep in the spring. Photo: © Natural England/Paul Glendell
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Boathouse Gem
Mark Tunmore of Atropos discovered the migrant moth Thysanoplusia daubei (the Boathouse Gem) at Church Cove on the Lizard in 2014 – the first record for Britain! Photo: Mark Tunmore
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Grayling
Grayling butterflies require plenty of bare earth for basking, so watch out for them in later summer along the trackways of the Lizard Downs. They are on the wing into […]
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Small Tortoiseshell
Small Tortoiseshells usually produce two broods in a year, and so a second-generation of adults emerges in August. Photo: © Natural England/Allan Drewitt