Hello Everyone, As the weather reverts back to the ‘normal’ spell of changeable Summer conditions with welcome rain for the grasslands and flowers, it has been hardly surprising that butterfly numbers have been well down but equally surprising was the first appearance of 4 species in Derbyshire for 2025, 2 of which are new County earliest sightings for the species.
1 Small Skipper first seen on the 31st of May 2025 at the Forge site in Ironville (Sally Fisher) – earliest County record being the 26th of May (2023))
2 Ringlet first seen on the 31st of May 2025 at both Coton Park, Linton (Denise Purcell) and also at the Forge site in Ironville (Sally Fisher) – earliest County record was the 5th of June (2023))
3 Gatekeeper first seen on the 31st of May 2025 at Coton Park, Linton (Denise Purcell) followed by another on the 1st of June 2025 at nearby Drakelow NR (Michael Williams) – earliest County record was the 4th of June (2017))
4 Silver Washed Fritillary first seen on the 4th of June 2025 in the wooded part of Lathkill Dale NNR (Chris & Sheila Ragg) – earliest County record being the 3rd of June (2023).
Elsewhere it has been a real struggle to get to double figures on transects in Week 10 but the following sightings give us some hope for butterflies in the future :-
Dark Green Fritillary :- Records received from 4 locations in the Peak District recently with individuals noted at Youlgrave (Erica Fretwell), Lathkill Dale NNR (Liz Wheeldon), Combs Dale (Sid Morris) together with 7 noted on Longstone Edge on the 2nd of June 2025 (Andrew Wilson).
Small Heath :- Maximum counts of the species in double figures have come from Cunningdale (13 no on the 28th of May 2025 – Debbie Fox), Bradbury’s Bank, Dovedale (13 no on the 2nd of June 2025 – Wendy Astill), and at Markham Vale South Pit (15 no on the 31st of May 2025 – Aoife Nevin)
Brown Argus (Peak District Race) :- Noted at just 2 sites recently – Lathkill Dale NNR (Liz Wheeldon) and in Cunningdale (Rachel Purchase)
Brown Argus (Migrating) :- Noted at just Drakelow NR on the 31st of May 2025 (Michael Williams)
Small Copper :- Noted at 4 locations in the County with the latest seen at Holloway on the 6th of June 2025 (Alison Pritchard)
Common Blue :- Still very much in low numbers but 12 were noted on the 2ndof June 2025 at Waterswallows, Buxton (Debbie Fox)
Large Skipper :- Becoming fairly widespread across the County with the highest count of 29 coming from Lathkill Dale NNR on the 2nd of June 2025 (Liz Wheeldon)
Small Tortoiseshell :- Pleasingly new brood specimens have been seen at 45 locations in the County, albeit mainly ones and twos, but 10 were seen on the 31st of May 2025 at Markham Vale North Pit (Sid Morris)
Meadow Brown :- Another species that is starting to show with sightings from 30 locations in the County including the highest count of 45 coming from the Forge site in Ironville on the 4th of June 2025 (Sally Fisher)
As to be expected, the flight period of most of the mainly single brooded Spring species is now coming to an end with the latest sighting of the Dingy Skipper coming from Deep Dale, Sheldon on the 6th of June 2025 (Tony Pioli), the Green Hairstreak being noted on the 3rd of June 2025 in Cunningdale (Rachel Purchase) and the Orange Tip being noted on the 4th of June 2025 at Creswell Crags ( Carol Ann Campbell) – let me know if you have any later dates for these species please.
Additionally some double brooded species are coming to the end of their flight period with the Holly Blue noted on the 4th of June 2025 in Coombs Dale (Sid Morris), the Comma noted on the 4th of June 2025 at Creswell Crags ( Carol Ann Campbell) and the Endangered butterfly species, the Wall Brown with just 3 recent sightings at Holloway on the 31st of May 2025 (Alison Pritchard), at Horseshoe Quarry, near Eyam on the 2nd of June 2025 (Andrew Woodhouse) and in Tansley/Cressbrookdale on the 5th of June 2025 (Gordon & Alison Rooke)
It has been hardly surprising that sightings of migrant butterflies and moths have been at a premium recently with just 3 records of the Painted Lady, all in the Peak District, at Bradwell on the 1st of June 2025 (Sally Pereira) and on the 2nd of June 2025 at both New Mills (John Turner) and in Small Dale, Hope(Esther Weir). Similarly the Humming Bird Hawk moth was only seen on the 5th of June 2025 in the Bradwell garden of Sally Pereira who remarked that the moth was flying around an ivy cladded wall looking for shelter during a rain shower. Some observers have been lucky to see the Scarlet Tiger moth in the County recently – a species that is spreading north and is quite strikingly marked especially when some moths can be classed as ‘little brown jobs’ !
