About the Butterflies
Central Sweden offers a good variety of Butterflies, in fact around 85 of Sweden´s
120 species can be seen here, although not at the same time. Flying periods are essential to know when it comes to seeing the species you want.
When to see…
At least from early May – some years even late April – it´s possible to see plenty of
Green Hairstreaks,
Holly Blues and
Camberwell Beauties. Along with them of course more common
Small Tortoiseshell,
Brimstones,
Commas and
Peacocks.
A bit later
Northern Wall Browns,
Grizzled– and
Dingy Skippers, appear along the forest tracks together with
Orangetips,
Wood White and
Real´s Wood White. The later part of May offers
Northern Chequered Skipper,
Common Swallowtails and
Marsh Fritillaries, all in the
same areas where we go birdwatching.
A couple of more good species fly on nearby localities in mid – late May. They do however need extra effort and an extra day or two
since they fly a little bit outside or regular birding routes.
Chequered Blue,
Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
and
Freja´s Fritillary are all rare, but regular in small numbers on a couple of good sites nearby. Add an extra day
or two on your visit if you want to give them a try with our guides!
June
June is the best time for good Scandinavian specialities like
Frigga´s Fritillary, Scarce– and
Marsh
Fritillary, Glanville–, Bog–, False Heath Fritillary and more.
From mid June it´s also the best time to see fresh specimen of large and beautiful
Poplar Admirals.
In coniferous areas Moorland Clouded Yellows have started to fly, soon to be followed by an abundance of Blues and Fritillaries.
On our excursions to the province Uppland we visit the Baltic coast where Glanville Fritillaries and Clouded Apollos have their mainland
stronghold. This is also the southern limit for
Large Grizzled Skipper and
Silvery Argus. June is also the
right time for Black-veined White, Scarce Heath ad Purple-edged Copper.
From late June
Large Blues are on their wings and the big variety of Blues (with more than 10 species to be seen in a day) peaks with
Mazarine–, Amanada´s–, Cranberry–, Ida´s and
Green–underside Blue, Geranium– and
Northern Brown Argus.
The very rare
Assman´s Fritillary fly from mid June to early July.
July
You need to get into July to see species like
Niobe Fritillary and
Apollo.
In coniferous habitats
Baltic Grayling, Cranberry Fritillary, Large Heath and
Northern Grizzled Skippers
can be found.
Scarce Copper fly throughout July and can be seen even in August.
In late July the high summer generation of
Camberwell Beauties hatch, together with the common hibernaters like
Commas, Brimstones, Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshell. They are good to see throughout August and a bit into September.
The large Fritillaries like
Queen of Spain–, Dark Green– High Brown– and Silver-washed are all
on their wings, as well are
Lesser Marbled– and
Heath Fritillaries.
Purple–, Brown– and White-letter Hairstreaks are mainly July– August flyers.
Odd and even years
Two species in the area only fly every second year.
Arran Brown fly odd years and
Baltic Grayling
only fly even years. They fly from early July.
CHECK OUT OUR JUNE BUTTERFLY-TOURS
CHECK OUT OUR JULY BUTTERFLY-TOURS