Butterflies in Fulking

This butterfly list represents sightings that have been made within the parish boundary of Fulking over the last twenty years. It is by no means complete and, to become more comprehensive, requires sightings of other butterflies to be reported. If you have seen a butterfly locally that you would like to add, please give me a call on 271. There are many good butterfly guides, but the 1992 Hamlyn Guide Butterflies of the British Isles, edited by Jeremy Thomas, is a handy pocket size, very informative, and easy to follow.

Bob Rowland

Brimstone Chalkhill Blue Clouded Yellow
Comma Common Blue Gatekeeper
Green-veined White Grizzled Skipper Holly Blue
Large Skipper Large White Marbled White
Meadow Brown Orange-tip Painted Lady
Peacock Pearl-bordered Fritillary Purple Emperor
Purple Hairstreak Red Admiral Ringlet
Silver-washed Fritillary Small Copper Small Heath
Small Skipper Small Tortoiseshell Small White
Speckled Wood Wall White Admiral

Larva/Caterpillar Pupa/Chrysalis Imago/Butterfly
Local butterfly resources

  • Sussex Wildlife Trust has its headquarters at Woods Mill at the southern edge of Henfield parish. Depending on the season, they offer courses, talks and guided walks devoted to butterflies, moths and other invertebrates.
  • The Sussex Branch of Butterfly Conservation compiles records of butterfly sightings, organizes butterfly conservation sessions with volunteers, and maintains a website with recent sightings, Sussex butterfly galleries, and much other information. It is also responsible for publishing The Sussex Butterfly Report annually and the Sussex Butterfly Atlas.
  • Earnley Butterflies Birds and Beasts, just southwest of Chichester, is for those who would like to see tropical butterflies without the discomfort and expense of actually visiting the tropics.

Books and pamphlets about Sussex butterflies

  • Robin Crane & Rendel Williams (2013) The Natural History of the South Downs National Park. Lewes: The Sussex Archaeological Society. [This book is organized by habitat rather than by species. Butterflies are discussed by reference to their characteristic habitats.]
  • Joyce & Peter Gay (1996) Atlas of Sussex Butterflies: with a commentary on their changing conservation status. Wareham: Butterfly Conservation. [A new edition of this atlas should become available when the current 2010-2014 atlas project is completed.]
  • Colin Pratt (1981) A History of the Butterflies and Moths of Sussex: being a history and modern-day survey of the macro-lepidoptera of East and West Sussex. Brighton: Booth Museum of Natural History.
  • Stanley Morris (1889-1942) Manuscript Collection: Diaries and Notebooks. [You’ll need to visit the Entomology Library at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington if you want to look at Morris’s notes on the butterflies he recorded in West Sussex.]
  • J.A. Erredge (1867) Brighthelmstone, Sussex: the ancient and modern history of Brighton. Brighton: W.J. Smith, pp 154-156 PDF. [These pages list and discuss the butterflies that were recorded in Brighton and the surrounding area in the mid nineteenth century.]