This is a list of butterfly species recorded in Estonia (species not encountered in the past 100 years are excluded). In late 2017, '' Papilio machaon'' was among several species of butterflies selected by the Estonian Society of Lepidopterists as contenders for the national butterfly of Estonia. Nearly 5,000 members of the public voted online, with ''P. machaon'' receiving 2,664 votes, overwhelmingly winning the title. As well as becoming the national butterfly of Estonia, ''P. machaon'' was named as butterfly of the year for 2018; an honor given to a native butterfly species in Estonia annually.

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...
– skippers

* Dingy skipper - ''Erynnis tages'' * Grizzled skipper - ''Pyrgus malvae'' *

Olive skipper The Olive Skipper (''Pyrgus serratulae'') is a species of skipper (family Hesperiidae). Description This is a relatively distinctive species by the standards of the genus, the upperside tending to be plainer than most of its congeners with o ...

- ''Pyrgus serratulae'' * Large grizzled skipper - ''Pyrgus alveus'' *

Large chequered skipper The large chequered skipper (''Heteropterus morpheus'') is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is the single member of the monotypic genus ''Heteropterus''. The species can be found in isolated populations in Europe and east across the Pa ...

- ''Heteropterus morpheus'' * Northern chequered skipper - ''Carterocephalus silvicola'' * Chequered skipper - ''Carterocephalus palaemon'' * Essex skipper - ''Thymelicus lineola'' * Small skipper - ''Thymelicus sylvestris'' * Large skipper - ''Ochlodes sylvanus'' * Silver-spotted skipper - ''Hesperia comma''

Papilionidae – swallowtails

* Old World swallowtail - ''Papilio machaon'' * Scarce swallowtail - ''Iphiclides podalirius'' * Clouded Apollo - ''Parnassius mnemosyne''

Pieridae – whites

* Black-veined white - ''Aporia crataegi'' *

Large white ''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris ra ...

- ''Pieris brassicae'' * Small white - ''Pieris rapae'' * Green-veined white - ''Pieris napi'' *

Bath white ''Pontia daplidice'', the Bath white, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the yellows and whites, which occurs in the Palearctic region. It is common in central and southern Europe, migrating northwards every summer, often reaching sou ...

- ''Pontia daplidice'' * Wood white - ''Leptidea sinapis'' * Orange tip - ''Anthocharis cardamines'' * Brimstone - ''Gonepteryx rhamni'' *

Moorland clouded yellow ''Colias palaeno'', known by the common names moorland clouded yellow, palaeno sulphur, and pale Arctic clouded yellow, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. Subspecies Subspecies include: – northern North America *''Colias palaeno chippewa ...

- ''Colias palaeno'' * Pale clouded yellow - ''Colias hyale'' *

Clouded yellow ''Colias'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are often called clouded yellows; the North American name "sulphurs" is elsewhere used for Coliadinae in general. The closest living relative is the genus ''Zerene'', which is som ...

- ''Colias crocea''

Nymphalidae

* White admiral - ''Limenitis camilla'' * Poplar admiral - ''Limenitis populi'' * Purple emperor - ''Apatura iris'' * Lesser purple emperor - ''Apatura ilia'' * European peacock - ''Aglais io'' * Small tortoiseshell - ''Aglais urticae'' * Red admiral - ''Vanessa atalanta'' * Painted lady - ''Vanessa cardui'' * Scarce tortoiseshell - ''Nymphalis xanthomelas'' *

Large tortoiseshell The large tortoiseshell or blackleg tortoiseshell (''Nymphalis polychloros'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Nymphalis polychloros polychloros'' * ''Nymphalis polychloros erythromelas'' (Austaut, 18 ...

- ''Nymphalis polychloros'' *

Camberwell beauty ''Nymphalis antiopa'', known as the mourning cloak in North America and the Camberwell beauty in Britain, is a large butterfly native to Eurasia and North America. The immature form of this species is sometimes known as the spiny elm caterpillar ...

- ''Nymphalis antiopa'' * False comma - ''Nymphalis vaualbum'' *

Comma The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...

- ''Polygonia c-album'' * Map - ''Araschnia levana'' *

Scarce fritillary The scarce fritillary (''Euphydryas maturna'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, R ...

- ''Euphydryas maturna'' * Marsh fritillary - ''Euphydryas aurinia'' *

False heath fritillary ''Melitaea diamina'', the false heath fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Melitaea diamina alpestris'' Fruhstorfer, 1917 * ''Melitaea diamina badukensis'' Alberti, 1969 (Caucasus) * ''Melita ...

- ''Melitaea diamina'' * Heath fritillary - ''Melitaea athalia'' *

Nickerl's fritillary ''Melitaea aurelia'', or Nickerl's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in central Europe. Description The wingspan is 28–32 mm. Dark russet-brown, so strongly marked with black that the ground-colour is r ...

- ''Melitaea aurelia'' * Knapweed fritillary - ''Melitaea phoebe'' * Glanville fritillary - ''Melitaea cinxia'' * Spotted fritillary - ''Melitaea didyma'' * Dark green fritillary - ''Speyeria aglaja'' *

Niobe fritillary The Niobe fritillary (''Fabriciana niobe'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Etymology The Latin species name ''niobe'' refers to Niobe, daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''F. n. niobe ...

- ''Fabriciana niobe'' * High brown fritillary - ''Fabriciana adippe'' * Silver-washed fritillary - ''Argynnis paphia'' *

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

- ''Argynnis pandora'' * Pallas's fritillary - ''Argynnis laodice'' * Lesser marbled fritillary - ''Brenthis ino'' *

Queen of Spain fritillary The Queen of Spain fritillary (''Issoria lathonia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: In the dry regions ''Issoria lathonia'' carries out a seasonal vertical migration between hardy evergreen shrubs and s ...

- ''Issoria lathonia'' * Small pearl-bordered fritillary - ''Boloria selene'' * Pearl-bordered fritillary - ''Boloria euphrosyne'' * Frigga fritillary - ''Boloria frigga'' * Weaver's fritillary - ''Boloria dia'' * Titania's fritillary - ''Boloria titania'' * Freija fritillary - ''Boloria freija'' * Cranberry fritillary - ''Boloria aquilonaris'' *

Bog fritillary ''Boloria eunomia'', the bog fritillary or ocellate bog fritillary, is a butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterfli ...

- ''Boloria eunomia'' * Arran brown - ''Erebia ligea'' *

Lapland ringlet The Lapland ringlet (''Erebia embla'') is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is restricted to sunny patches in very damp spruce and pine forests and forested unmanaged peatlands (and sometimes moors). The larva feed ...

- ''Erebia embla'' * Marbled white - ''Melanargia galathea'' * Baltic grayling - ''Oeneis jutta'' *

Grayling Grayling or Greyling may refer to: Animals Fish * Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae ** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the European species of the genus ''Thymallus'' ** Arctic grayli ...

- ''Hipparchia semele'' * Ringlet - ''Aphantopus hyperanthus'' * Speckled wood - ''Pararge aegeria'' * Northern wall brown - ''Lasiommata petropolitana'' * Large wall - ''Lasiommata maera'' *

Woodland brown ''Lopinga achine'', the woodland brown, is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Description in Seitz P. ''achine'' Scop. (= ''dejanira'' L.) (45 g). Dark brown: forewing with 5—6 eye-rings forming a chain, hindwing with 2—4 s ...

- ''Lopinga achine'' * Meadow brown - ''Maniola jurtina'' * Dusky meadow brown - ''Hyponephele lycaon'' *

Scarce heath ''Coenonympha hero'', the scarce heath, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. Distribution It can be found in Central Europe, Northern Europe and the North Palearctic (Urals East to Mongolia, Korea and Japan). Descript ...

- ''Coenonympha hero'' *'' Coenonympha amyntas'' *

Pearly heath ''Coenonympha arcania'', the pearly heath, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. Distribution It can be found in Central Europe. Description It resembles ''Coenonympha hero''. Seitz describes it thus ''C. arcania'' ...

- ''Coenonympha arcania'' * Small heath - ''Coenonympha pamphilius'' * Large heath - ''Coenonympha tullia''

Riodinidae - metalmarks

* Duke of Burgundy - ''Hamearis lucina''

Lycaenidae

* Purple hairstreak - ''Thecla quercus'' * Brown hairstreak - ''Thecla betulae'' * Ilex hairstreak - ''Satyrium ilicis'' * White-letter hairstreak - ''Satyrium w-album'' * Black hairstreak - ''Satyrium pruni'' * Green hairstreak - ''Callophrys rubi'' *

Scarce copper The scarce copper (''Lycaena virgaureae'') is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae (copper or gossamer-winged butterflies). Appearance The lower surfaces of the back wings are yellowish and have only a few black dots; there are characteristic ...

- ''Lycaena virgaureae'' * Sooty copper - ''Lycaena tityrus'' * Purple-shot copper - ''Lycaena alciphron'' * Small copper - ''Lycaena phlaeas'' * Large copper - ''Lycaena dispar'' *

Purple-edged copper The purple-edged copper (''Lycaena hippothoe'') is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. Sub-species Subspecies include: * ''Lycaena hippothoe hippothoe'' ( Linnaeus, 1761) * ''Lycaena hippothoe stiberi'' (Gerhard, 1853) – Scandinavia, Urals, ...

- ''Lycaena hippothoe'' *

Short-tailed blue The short-tailed blue or tailed Cupid (''Cupido argiades'') is a butterfly that forms part of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Europe to Japan and in India. Description The male has a violet upperside, a violet forewing with brown edg ...

- ''Cupido argiades '' * Small blue - ''Cupido minimus'' * Holly blue - ''Celastrina argiolus'' * Eastern baton blue - ''Pseudophilotes vicrama'' * Chequered blue - ''Scolitantides orion'' *

Green-underside blue ''Glaucopsyche alexis'', the green-underside blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic. The butterfly flies from April to July depending on the location, lingering in warm, lush meadows with plenty of its host ...

- ''Glaucopsyche alexis'' * Large blue - ''Phengaris arion'' * Idas blue - ''Plebejus idas'' *

Silver-studded blue The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be ...

- ''Plebejus argus'' * Mountain argus - ''Aricia artaxerxes'' * Geranium argus - ''Eumedonia eumedon'' * Cranberry blue - ''Agriades optilete'' * Mazarine blue - ''Cyaniris semiargus'' * Common blue - ''Polyommatus icarus'' *

Amanda's blue ''Polyommatus amandus'', the Amanda's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm. Description With a wingspan of , Amanda's blue is noticeably larger than most of the "blue" butterflies, which is particu ...

- ''Polyommatus amandus'' *

Damon blue ''Polyommatus damon'', the Damon blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. Subspecies Subspecies include: * ''Polyommatus damon damon'' – (Central and Southern Europe) * ''Polyommatus damon kotshubeji'' (, 1915) – (Transcaucasia) * ' ...

- ''Polyommatus damon'' *

Adonis blue The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, T ...

- ''Lysandra bellargus'' * Chalkhill blue - ''Lysandra coridon''

External links

Estonian diurnal butterflies in the collections of the Museum of Zoology at Tartu University

References

*J. Viidalepp et al. Eesti liblikad, Tallinn, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Estonian Butterflies Estonia *Estonia

Butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ... – skippers