BUTTERFLIES
| Common name | Scientific name | Picture | Comments |
| Large white | Pieris brassicae | Uncommon. Pesticides have reduced numbers. | |
| Small white | Pieris rapae | |
As above |
| Green-veined white | Pieris napi | |
Very common |
| Orange tip | Anthocaris cardimines | |
Quite common. Only male has orange on wing-tip |
| Clouded yellow | Colias crocae | |
Rare. Migrates from Africa. A few seen in 2000 . |
| Small copper | Lycaena phlaeas | |
Rare. One sighting only in 1993. Common elsewhere. |
| Small heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | |
Quite common. |
| Common blue | Polyommatus icarus | |
Very common. Only blue on the island. |
| Meadow brown | Maniola jurtina | Common | |
| Scotch argus | Erebia aethiops | |
Rare. A few seen in 1995 and 1996. |
| Grayling | Hipparchia semele | |
Common in coastal areas. |
| Marsh fritillary | Eurodryas aurinia | |
Fluctuates in numbers. Usually quite common. |
| Speckled wood | Pararge aegeria | |
Found only in woodland. Quite common. |
| Painted lady | Cynthia cardui | |
Migrates from N. Africa. Not common. |
| Red admiral | Vanessa atalanta | |
Usually seen in good numbers. |
| Peacock | Inachis io | |
Becoming more common. |
| Small tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | |
Common. |
The following species have not been seen on the island, but are worth looking out for:-
| Green hairstreak | Callophrys rubi |  |
Common on the mainland |
| Dark-green fritillary | Mesoacidalia aglaja |  |
Quite common on the mainland |
| Northern brown argus | Aricia artaxerxes |  |
Food plant is Rock-rose which is abundant on the island. A young entomologist on the island has reported a sighting from Baligrundle. This will be confirmed, we hope, in 2002. |