The sight of a butterfly perched on a leaf with wings spread wide often causes us to stop in our tracks. It’s a mindful moment, spent appreciating its delicate beauty. This so-called “dorsal basking” is a sign that butterflies need to increase body temperature, absorbing heat onto their wings. A butterfly can’t fly if its body temperature is less than 35 degrees, hence they are efficient heat seekers.

“Being a damp island, isolated from the continental land mass, Ireland is not blessed with a high number of butterfly species compared with our European neighbours, but we do have some real beauties. And the good news is that some of our most attractive butterflies are keen visitors to nectar-rich gardens,” explains lepidopterist Jesmond Harding, of Butterfly Conservation Ireland, which runs a nature reserve at Lullybeg, Co Kildare (in partnership with Bord Na Móna). Twenty-seven of Ireland’s 33 resident and migrant butterflies have been recorded there. The group regularly organises butterfly walks, often in the Burren National Park or on private land (there is an upcoming walk on August 8) with the aim of spotting some seasonal visitors.

“A June garden butterfly and a personal favourite is the Holly Blue, named for its colour and love of holly. It is the first butterfly I fell in love with, aged four,” explains Harding. Butterfly wings are actually transparent, their vivid colours due to overlapping bright scales. Another garden visitor in June is the Orange-Tip. “The males sport hot orange on their forewing tips, contrasting with ice-white elsewhere. The underside is a gorgeous mottled mossy mosaic, helping the settled butterfly blend with the frothy blossom of cow parsley. The butterfly breeds on cuckoo flower, garlic, mustard, honesty and sweet rocket.” Look out, too, for the Small Copper, that gleams in the sun. “Any gardener who has this butterfly visiting is to be congratulated for making his plot a home to one of our most handsome species,” says Harding. “During the summer of 2018, a male Small Copper set up his territory in my garden, and exercised his rule for 28 days, an impressive reign for a tiny butterfly.”

“Other butterflies that visit grassy gardens with native hedges in June include the Speckled Wood, a chocolate brown butterfly dappled with cream spots, and the Meadow Brown, our most abundant butterfly, known for its bobbing flight and striking eye-spot markings.”

Later in summer, the more colourful butterflies appear: the Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Red Admiral, which all love the ‘‘butterfly bush’’ or Buddelia davidii. They also love native flora too, such as knapweed, marjoram and scabious. As butterfly populations are declining, we can help by gardening for nature and using these native plants.

Top of Harding’s list is the Peacock butterfly, so-called for its ornate peacock eye markings on the upperside of the forewings and hindwings, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the world. “The central area of the wings is a rich mahogany red with the hindwing edges a burnt silver-grey while the forewings are edged in smoky brown. Deep black canine tooth markings, two on the forewing, one on the hindwing, add a further touch of drama. The underside is a complete contrast to the sumptuous uppersides, resembling black bark.” Harding has recently published The Irish Butterfly Book containing more than 400 photographs, the result of 25 years’ research, the most complete guide to Irish butterflies ever published.

www.butterflyconservation.ie