THERE ARE 68 BUTTERFLIES IN THIS GALLERY.

WHEN THE BUTTERFLY GALLERY HAS BEEN COMPLETED, THEN THE DRAGONFLIES WILL BE DONE in the Wildlife on Plant Photographic Galleries Section, WHILST CONTINUING TO ADD TO THE WILDFLOWERS in the Plant Photographic Section.

If a Plant Comparison Page or Wildlife on Plant Comparison Page has colour photographs of plants or wildlife on plants in it, then (o) is prefixed to that Comparison page title in the Navigation Box for that Section.

If you prefer not to see these photographs, then please admire the green background displayed in the other Comparison Pages!!!

 

This Butterfly Gallery contains pictures of Eggs, Caterpillars, and Chrysalises which grow into:-

• Butterflies.

There is also pictures of the Plants that they eat or use in their lifespan, the Habitats they live in and Who eats them.

The Readers Digest Nature Lover's Library Field Guide to the Butterflies and Other Insects of Britain by Dr John Feltwell for The Reader's Digest Association Limited (ISBN 0-276-36007-9) illustrates and describes the insects that you are likely to come across in Britain.

Natural History of British Butterflies Vol. I and II by F.W. Frohawk Published by Hutchinson & Co., Paternoster Row, E.C. in 1914 contains a complete series of drawings of every phase of the life cycle of all our 68 British butterflies, together with a complete account of the life history of all 68 insects.

This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of Caterpillars in the following colours:-

• Caterpillars with Long Hairs
• Curiously Shaped Caterpillars
• Green Caterpillars
• Grey / Brown Caterpillars
• Orange Caterpillars
• Spiny Caterpillars
• White Caterpillars
• Yellow Caterpillars

 

This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of Adult Butterflies that come from the above Caterpillars, in the following species:-

• Butterflies - Aristocrats
• The aristocrat butterflies (Nymphalids) have short, non-functional front legs covered in long hairs, which are held close to the head. The butterflies hibernate during the winter, except for the Red Admiral, Painted Lady and Camberwell Beauty who migrate to the Continent or North Africa for the winter. Most of the aristocrat caterpillars eat the stinging nettle. It is difficult to tell the sex of the butterfly by its wing colour.
• Butterflies - Blues, Hairstreaks and Copper
• The Blues, Hairstreaks and Copper butterflies (Lycaenidae family) are small and swift flyers. The blues and copper have bright metallic colours and are found in open grassy areas rich in wild flowers. The hairstreaks have a fine white line known as a 'hairstreak' on the underside of the wings and live in woodlands and glades. Caterpillars of the White-letter Hairstreak, the Green Hairstreak, the Silver-studded Blue and the Chalk-hill Blue all have a 'honey-gland' on their bodies, which secretes a fluid that ants like to drink. The ants 'farm' these caterpillars, movinf them to suitable food plants in return for the secretion.
• Butterflies - Browns
• The brown butterflies (Satyridae family) all have false eyes either on the upper or lower surface of the wings to confuse predatory birds or lizards about the position of the body. Except for the Marbled White, the browns are brown and have only 4 walking legs. The caterpillars all eat grass and spend the winter as caterpillars feeding during the mild weather. The Speckled Wood may also live through the winter as a chrysalis. The Large Heath, the Ringlet and the Scotch Argus occur almost exclusively in the North, the Gatekeeper and the Marbled White are predominantly Southern and the rest throughout Britain.
• Butterflies - Fritillaries
• Fritillary comes from the Latin Fritillus, meaning dice box, and is used to describe the chequer pattern on their wings of spotted butterflies in the Nymphaphalidae family. The females are lighter coloured with rounded wingtips. The butterflies live in open sections of deciduous woodland - glades, rides, clearings and margins. 5 species use woddland violets as their caterpillar food. Replacement of deciduous woodland in Southern England by conifer plantations has oblitereated their habitat and them.
• Butterflies - Monarch
• The Monarch is an American Butterfly which travels 3,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean between August and October to the West of the British Isles. The caterpillars eat milkweed, which is a rare garden or greenhouse plant.
• Butterfles - Skippers
• The skippers are small, compact butterflies who fly with great speed (using their large compound eyes for all-round vision) and manoeuvrability. The skippers wings and body are the same length, whereas other families have wings proportionlly much longer. In order to sunbath when resting, the butterfly may hold the fore-wings partially raised and the hind-wings horizontal. Skippers are aggressive in defence of a patch of grass or wild flowers. The caterpillars all feed inside a curled leaf or in a protective tent of several leaves drawn together with silk, which may be used in the winter as well.
• Butterflies - Swallowtail
• The Swalowtail only survives in the Norfolk Broads. The caterpillar only eats Milk Parsley and is now protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981.
• Butterflies - Whites and Yellows
• The British Pieridae Family has the Whites (Pierinae), the Yellows (Coliadinae) and the Wood White (Dismorphiinae) sub families. All species contain white or yellow pigments in their wings. The caterpillars are without spines and its food plants are mostly in the cabbage and peaflower families, but the Brimstone caterpillar feeds solely on Buckthorn. The Brimstone hibernates as a butterfly, whereas the others hibernate as chrysalises. The white and yellow colours are caused by waste products being stored in the wings. Butterflies of the spring generation tend to be weakly marked with grey while those of the summer tend to have heavy black marks. These black-white marks are poisonous to birds, which are obtained from cabbage leaves.

 

This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of plants that Plants that Caterpillars Eat in the following types:-

• Caterpillar eats Grass
• Caterpillar eats Wild Flower
• Caterpillar eats Vegetable
• Caterpillar eats Shrub
• Caterpillar eats Tree
• Caterpillar eats Climber
• Caterpillar eats Conifers

 

This butterfly gallery has thumbnail pictures of Plants that Butterflies Use in the following types:-

• Grass that Insects Use
• Wild Flower that Insects Use

 

A summary is listed in a Table of the Plants that each Insect uses in a page and another Table gives the Insects that use each plant in another page:-

• Plant Name
• Butterfly Name
• Used by Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis or Butterfly
• Plant Usage
• Plant Usage Months

If you click on a thumbnail in one of the above, then another window opens with up to the following 21 larger images:-

• Caterpillar
• Insect at Rest
• Caterpillar Food Plant Form with Foliage
• Egg
• Chrysalis
• Insect Resting
• Caterpillar Food Plant Foliage
• Caterpillar Food Plant Form without Foliage
• 4 of Insect Food Plant
• 3 of Insect Habitat
• 3 of Caterpillar Eaten By
• 3 of Insect Eaten By

for the:-

• Caterpillar,
• Butterfly Identity,
• Plants that Caterpillars Eat,
• Plants that Butterflies Use,
• Habitats that Butterflies Use,
• Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis Eaten By
• Insect Eaten By

pages and the following plant description:-

1. Insect Common Name
2. Zoological Name
3. Food plant for Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis
4. Egg Stage : Colour
5. Caterpillar Stage: Colour
6. Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis Eaten By
7. Chrysalis Stage
8. Adult Insect: Colour
9. Adult Insect: Wingspan
10. Adult Insect: Lifespan
11. Adult Insect: Food Plants
12. Adult Insect: Habitat
13. Adult Insect Eaten by
14. Comments

Please close that window before clicking on another thumbnail.

 

This butterfly gallery has pictures of habitats that insects use with description.

This butterfly gallery has pictures of predators that eat the caterpillars:-

• Caterpillar Eaten By Bird
• Caterpillar Eaten By Mite
• Caterpillar Eaten by Bug

This butterfly gallery has pictures of predators that eat the butterflies:-

• Insect Eaten By Bird

 

The Site Map for Individual Butterflies gives you access to the above larger images and insect description for all the caterpillars detailed in the Butterfly Gallery in alphabetical order.

Together with the Plants, Companion Planting and Offbeat Glossary sections of this website, these photographs should aid your choice of plant for your garden.

These gallery photographs were provided by Christine Foord and they were photographed by Christine and Ron Foord