Here is a brief guide to help you find and identify butterflies in your garden:

The Peacock is often the first butterfly species to be seen each year. It can be found in orchards and gardens feeding on nettles and nectar from buddleia and the common thistle. Large eyespots on their wings, similar to those of a peacock, help identify these butterflies.

The Holly Blue has a wingspan of just 2cm. Blue on both body and wings, these small butterflies are found throughout Britain, Europe, Asia, North America and North Africa, in woodlands and gardens with holly and ivy.

The Comma emerges in early spring to feed on bramble, dandelions and fallen fruit. The name comes from a small white comma-shaped mark on the underside of the brown wing which helps identify these ragged looking butterflies.

The Small Tortoiseshell is similar to the pale orange Painted Lady with brown and white patches, but you can identify this butterfly species by its additional blue spots. The brightly coloured adults are mainly seen from March to June, resting on the common thistle with their wings closed before rapidly flapping to confuse and alarm predators.

The Large White and Small White are the only butterfly species to be pests for gardeners, due to their habit of laying eggs on cabbages. They can be found in parks, gardens and allotments feeding on buddleia, the common thistle and lavender.

To increase your chances of sighting a range of butterfly species, make your garden appealing to them by using our guide on how to make a butterfly garden.

Many butterfly species feed on buddleia, lavender, nettles, the common thistle and fallen fruit. With plenty of these in your garden, your will have ample opportunity to identify your butterfly visitors.

You can also look for butterflies in parks, allotments and woodlands.

Different butterfly species can be seen in different months.

Some butterfly species, such as peacocks and brimstones, can be seen as early as February, whereas small tortoiseshells prefer the slightly warmer weather of March to June.

The red admiral enjoys the south of England during the heat of August, on its way back to warmer climes.

To help you identify butterflies in your garden, Butterfly Conservation is giving away free and easy to use identification charts. To view the chart, download the PDF (pdf appox 1.08Mb).

In order to view these documents you will need Acrobat Reader on your PC.
If you do not already have this, you can get it free by clicking on the following link:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html