Holly Blue butterflies spotted in Renfrewshire

Have you seen any Holly Blue butterflies?

The Holly Blue had been slowly moving North in the Glasgow and Southwest area over the last 5 years particularly. During 2023 the species went through a massive explosion in numbers and range in Scotland, particularly on the East coast. This has continued in 2024. Spread on the West coast has been slower but may now be catching up.

PNHS member, Shelley Mellor, spotted one in her garden this weekend. They watched it circling a small Holly tree, maybe laying eggs. It is a pale blue colour and easily identified. They are found mainly on holly in the spring and also ivy in the later summer generation. They can be found feeding on other plants such bramble, dogwood, snowberry and gorse.

If you see any please record them. The iRecord Butterflies free app makes this very easy to do. The Glasgow and Southwest Scotland branch of Butterfly Conservation are carrying out a survey of its spread in Scotland and so your records are very valuable for tracking where it is found. You can find out more information about the Holly Blue and and how to record them on their Holly Blue survey webpage.

Image: Holly Blue male underside by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons