Butterflies

According to the National Biodiversity Data Centre the peacock butterfly is the most recorded butterfly of 2020 so far

From Botany to Butterflies – Today our #SpeciesADay is – Peacock

Peacock is currently the most recorded species of 2020, so there should be plenty on the wing.

If you see one in your garden/2km area, why not take a picture and share using #SpeciesADay pic.twitter.com/Dw8bFUKKVR

— Biodiversity Ireland (@BioDataCentre) April 20, 2020

I confess, it’s the only butterfly species that I’ve seen this year so far (although to be fair, given the current COVID lockdown, I’ve rarely left my garden!). But the wonderful people at Wicklow Mountains National Park have made a guide to Ireland’s Early Spring Butterflies so now you can see if you can spot them all. There are five to spot: the peacock, the small tortoiseshell, the red admiral, the comma, and the brimstone.

If you want to know what these look like as caterpillars, all of them except the brimstone are found in Butterfly Conservation‘s caterpillar guide which you can download here.

There’ll be more butterflies hatching out as spring turns to summer, so if you want to know what you might spot in the months to come, you can check out the butterfly identification sheet that the National Biodiversity Data Centre have produced.

Tweet us your best butterfly photos to @NatureAtHomeIE

Download pdfs of:
Ireland’s Early Spring Butterflies
Caterpillars: a brief guide
Butterflies of Ireland