A list of the butterflies recorded in the Folkestone & Hythe area, with year of most recent occurrence and first sighting dates since 2011, is now available to download as an Excel spreadsheet by clicking here.
The Folkestone & Hythe area butterfly list currently stands at 55 species.
Historical lists:
Introduction to historical lists and authors.
Henry Knaggs’ list of macro-lepidoptera occurring in the neighbourhood of Folkestone (1870).
Henry Ullyett’s list of macro-lepidoptera occurring in the neighbourhood of Folkestone (1880).
Arthur Morley’s list of macro-lepidoptera occurring in the neighbourhood of Folkestone (1931).
Species accounts:
The list is based on the sequence and taxonomy contained within the Checklist of the Lepidoptera of the British Isles (Agassiz et al. 2022).
Very rare: has occurred locally on between one and 15 occasions.
Rare: has occurred locally on between 16 and 50 occasions.
Scarce: has occurred locally on more than 50 occasions but on less than ten occasions per year on average.
The species accounts cover all records received up until the end of December 2025.
56.001 – Apollo
56.003 – Swallowtail
57.001 – Dingy Skipper
57.002 – Grizzled Skipper
57.005 – Essex Skipper
57.006 – Small Skipper
57.008 – Silver-spotted Skipper
57.009 – Large Skipper
58.003 – Orange-tip
58.005 – Black-veined White
58.006 – Large White
58.007 – Small White
58.008 – Green-veined White
58.009 – Bath White
58.010 – Clouded Yellow
58.011 – Pale Clouded Yellow
58.012 – Berger’s Clouded Yellow
58.013 – Brimstone
59.001 – Monarch
59.002 – Wall
59.003 – Speckled Wood
59.005 – Small Heath
59.009 – Ringlet
59.010 – Meadow Brown
59.011 – Gatekeeper
59.012 – Marbled White
59.013 – Grayling
59.014 – Pearl-bordered Fritillary
59.015 – Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
59.016 – Queen of Spain Fritillary
59.017 – Silver-washed Fritillary
59.019 – Dark Green Fritillary
59.020 – High Brown Fritillary
59.021 – White Admiral
59.022 – Purple Emperor
59.023 – Red Admiral
59.024 – Painted Lady
59.026 – Peacock
59.027 – Small Tortoiseshell
59.028 – Camberwell Beauty
59.029 – Large Tortoiseshell
59.031 – Comma
59.034 – Glanville Fritillary
61.001 – Small Copper
61.004 – Purple Hairstreak
61.005 – Green Hairstreak
61.006 – White-letter Hairstreak
61.008 – Long-tailed Blue
61.010 – Small Blue
61.012 – Holly Blue
61.014 – Silver-studded Blue
61.015 – Brown Argus
61.018 – Common Blue
61.019 – Adonis Blue
61.020 – Chalk Hill Blue
Not proven or out of area:
These species featured in one or more of the historical lists but are not included in the current area list.
58.001 – Wood White
59.033 – Marsh Fritillary
59.036 – Heath Fritillary
60.001 – Duke of Burgundy
61.003 – Brown Hairstreak
61.017 – Mazarine Blue
N/A – Purple-edged Copper
N/A – Turquoise Blue