List of butterflies of Great Britain

This is a list of butterflies of Great Britain, including extinct, naturalised species and those of dubious origin. The list comprises butterfly species listed in The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland by Emmet et al. and Britain's Butterflies by Tomlinson and Still.

A study by NERC in 2004 found there has been a species decline of 71% of butterfly species between 1983 and 2003. The 2007 UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) listed 22 butterfly species. The 2011 Red List of British butterflies lists 4 species as "regionally extinct" (RE), 2 as "critically endangered", 8 as "endangered (E), 9 as "vulnerable" (V), 11 as "near threatened" (NT) and 28 as "least concern" (LC) in a UK context. In the list below, the categories are as taken from the 2022 Red List (RE 4, E 8, V 16, NT 5, LC 29). Range expansions according to the 2010 Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland.

Butterfly Conservation lists 29 of Great Britain's 58 breeding butterfly species as "High UK threat priority", with 9 of those with conservation priority status "Action urgent across UK range".

Hesperiidae – skippers

Subfamily Heteropterinae

Chequered skipper – Carterocephalus palaemon LC

– formerly thinly distributed in south and east, now confined to western Scotland; re-establishment project ongoing (2018–2020) Rockingham Forest, England

Subfamily Hesperiinae

Small skipper – Thymelicus sylvestris LC

– throughout Wales and England, except far north-east and north-west; spreading north and west

Essex skipper – Thymelicus lineola LC

– throughout south-east England, with scattered populations in West Country and as far north as the Humber estuary; spreading north and west

Lulworth skipper – Thymelicus acteon NT

– confined to the south coast between Weymouth and Swanage

Silver-spotted skipper – Hesperia comma V

– restricted to southern England: east Kent, east Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, north Dorset, south Wiltshire and the southern Chilterns; expanding distribution

Large skipper – Ochlodes sylvanus LC

– throughout England and Wales, and north to south-west Scotland

Subfamily Pyrginae

Dingy skipper – Erynnis tages tages LC

– thinly distributed through much of England and Wales, and in the Scottish Highlands

Grizzled skipper – Pyrgus malvae V

– southern England north to north-east Wales, and south-east Wales

Papilionidae – swallowtails

Subfamily Papilioninae

Swallowtail – Papilio machaon V

P. machaon britannicus (endemic subspecies) – confined to Norfolk Broads (formerly also in The Fens)

P. machaon gorganus – rare migrant and occasional breeder from Continental Europe to southern England and southern Wales

Pieridae – whites and yellows

Subfamily Dismorphiinae

Wood white – Leptidea sinapis sinapis E

– Devon and west Somerset; Surrey; Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire; and Worcestershire and Herefordshire

Subfamily Coliadinae

Dark clouded yellow – Colias croceus LC

– immigrant, though overwintering in south-west; north to River Clyde in some years

Common brimstone – Gonepteryx rhamni rhamni LC

– throughout England (except north) and Wales (except south-west, central west and far north-west); expanding range north and "infilling"

Subfamily Pierinae

Large white – Pieris brassicae LC

– throughout, but thinly spread in north-west half of Scotland

Small white – Pieris (Artogeia) rapae LC

– throughout, except far north

Green-veined white – Pieris (Artogeia) napi LC

P. napi sabellicae – throughout (except for area occupied by subspecies thomsoni)

P. napi thomsoni – east-central Scotland

Orange tip – Anthocharis cardamines britannica LC

– throughout, except far north and north-west; expanding range in Scotland and "infilling" in England and Wales

Lycaenidae – hairstreaks, coppers and blues

Subfamily Theclinae

Green hairstreak – Callophrys rubi LC

– throughout much of country

Brown hairstreak – Thecla betulae V

– south of the Humber estuary, with concentrations in south-west Wales, north Devon and south-west Somerset, and west Weald.