From a small tortoiseshell sunning its wings on a garden buddleia, to a dark green fritillary soaring over grassland, butterflies add colour to wherever they live.
Scotland is home to more than half of Britain’s species of the insect, with several found in greater numbers than anywhere else in the UK.
Several others are migratory visitors, for instance the suphur flashes of the clouded yellow and the brimstone are occasionally seen in Scotland, but to be considered native a butterfly must regularly breed in its home country.
They all have fascinating life cycles, starting life as tiny eggs that hatch into ravenous caterpillars, eventually pupating and emerging as adults – one of the great transformative miracles of the natural world.
But it’s amazing how few butterflies the average Scot can identify, aside from the usual ‘cabbage whites’ and red admirals.
So, here are all the species to be found, along with where and when you can see them. How many can you spot in 2023?
1. Large White
One of the group of butterflies commonly known as 'cabbage whites' - or the Pieridae family to give them their scientific name - the large white's caterpillars do often feed on cabbage leaves. They are fairly common in gardens across the Central Belt and Borders, though less so in the north of Scotland. The adults can be seen on the wing from April to December.
2. Small White
As the name would suggest, the small white is relatively easy to distinguish from the large white due to its more diminutive size. It has a similar distribution in Scotland to its larger cousin and can easily be spotted in gardens during the summer.
3. Green-veined White
The green-veined white is widespread across Scotland, but is more likely to be seen in meadows or at the edge of woodland, rather than gardens. Their distinctive yellow-green underwing makes them easy to identify. There tend to be two separate broods of the green-veined white each year, flying between May and August.
4. Orange Tip
The last species of the Pieridae family that is resident in Scotland is also the prettiest. As recently as a decade ago the orange tip was a relatively rare sight north of the border, but it is now widespread in central and southern Scotland. They tend to be one of the first butterflies of the year to emerge, fluttering around parks, gardens, riverbanks and meadows from April to June. Only the male has the distinctive orange patternation, with the plain white female harder to distinguish from other butterflies of the same family.