Butterflies

Just under 25 species of butterfly have been recorded at both Croft Close Nature Reserve and Long Meadow. The current species list is here on the monitoring page under Invertebrates -> Butterflies.

Follow the links in the photo grid below for some simple facts about these other similar butterflies. See our gallery of photographs here.

If you want to know more, the Butterfly Conservation’s and UK Butterflies’ websites have plenty of detail.

Some butterflies are considered ‘specialists’ and broadly, according to Butterfly Conservation these are faring less well than the UK’s generalist butterflies.

Even among the generalists many butterflies are restricted to particular habitat types. Some rarely move any distance away from their natal colony, though sufficient movement can occur for new colonies to establish. Other species roam widely and indeed there are some long-distance migrants. Tracking movement is, of course, challenging: the table below gives a generalised impression of butterfly mobility.

Like many creatures, some butterflies exploit “edge” habitats, that is the boundary between two distinct habitat types. In the list below these are largely the ‘scrub’ butterflies. Grassland butterflies are rarely found away from grassland; similarly, there are several species that are usually (but not always) found in woodlands.