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Lang's short-tailed BlueLeptotes pirithousPhoto © 2017-2023 Dan Danahar -
Plain TigerDanaus chrysippusPhoto © 2017-2023 Dan Danahar -
Green underside BlueGlaucopsyche alexisPhoto © 2019-2023 Dan Danahar -
Nettle-tree ButterflyLibythea celtisPhoto © 2020-2023 Steven Cheshire -
Krueper's Small WhitePieris krueperiPhoto © 2020-2023 Dan Danahar -
Southern White AdmiralLimenitis reductaPhoto © 2020-2023 Steven Cheshire -
SwallowtailPapilio machaonPhoto © 2016-2023 Bob Giles
There are 1 records awaiting verification.
There are 193 registered recorders.
Welcome to Corfu Butterfly Conservation
Butterflies are a magical part of the experience of Corfu, so captivatingly portrayed in the books by my late husband, Gerald Durrell, about his childhood on this enchanting island.
We know now that butterflies and moths are a vital part of our wildlife heritage and are valuable as sensitive indicators of the health of our environment. So, given that declines in insects are now to be seen around the globe, it begs the questions; are similar trends to be found in the Corfiot butterflies? And, if so, are the butterflies of Corfu endangered?
Corfu Butterfly Conservation
Corfu Butterfly Conservation is a project initiated by concerned residents, island visitors and scientists from all over the world. Our goal is to stimulate informed interest and produce robust scientific data that can be used to influence policy and protect habitat for the benefit of Corfu’s butterflies and the wider natural environment, on which we all depend. Our immediate aim is to record the distribution of butterflies on the island, and we would be delighted if you would help us in this effort. Ultimately, we intend to publish an atlas of Corfu Butterflies based on this information.
How can you help?
We invite you to learn more about the butterflies of Corfu and to submit your sightings to the Corfu Butterfly Survey in order to create a knowledge base that will protect them for the future. Please join our Facebook page and use this website to learn more and send us your sightings.
Our vision
Our vision is one we share with Gerald Durrell, who wrote in 1988:
We hope there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide you and butterflies in hedges and forests to greet you.
We hope that your dawns will be filled with an orchestra of bird song to enchant you.
We hope there will still be extraordinary creatures sharing the planet with you to enrich your lives as they have done for us.
We hope you will be grateful for having been born into such a magical world.
The Corfu Butterfly Survey will start on the 1st January 2021 and the projected end date is 31st December 2025, which would have been the centennial year since Gerald Durrell’s birth. Please join us in doing something very special for Corfu to celebrate this exceptional event!
Lee Durrell
Corfu, 7th January 2020
Please help us in our efforts to conserve Corfu’s butterflies
Corfu Butterfly Conservation (CBC) started when a few interested individuals began sharing their photos of Corfiot butterflies on Facebook. Now it is a project designed to survey the butterflies of Corfu and in our most recent international Zoom meeting (joined by 13 members of the CBC team – from Corfu and the UK) the major item on the agenda explored how our project could turn into a charitable organisation.
Although still embryonic, this project is making substantial steps towards its goals. Whilst the Covid 19 pandemic slowed our progress and forced us to relaunch the Corfu Butterfly Survey, it still gave us plenty of time to think about how this work is to develop. In addition, we have spent a lot of time applying for funding to help further our aims.
However, it is well to remember that this effort is not one that has the backing of a range of multi-national corporations, with the unlimited time and funding that would bring. All the work you see here is provided, for the most part, by volunteers who are happy to give their time free of charge, on a pro bono basis.
So, if you can’t wait to get your hands on the Corfu Butterfly Atlas please remember that to make it, we need records. Your records will be as valuable as anyone else’s in making that happen, so please help us by submitting your sightings to this website.
If for some reason you think our website could be better, please let us know by contacting us with suggestions for improvements. If you think our project could move a little faster and you are in a position to donate to our cause, please consider doing so.
This work started because a few individuals were interested in Corfu’s butterflies. Now that we are on the verge of turning this project into a charitable organisation, it becomes increasingly less about a few individuals’ dreams and more about a community’s opportunity to work together to make a positive contribution towards conserving Corfu’s butterflies and more broadly its entire natural heritage.
I guess my point is that the more we work together the more likely it is that the goals of CBC are going to be accomplished.
We invite you to join us and would love to hear from you.
Dr Dan Danahar
1st January 2021
Latest News
16/11/2023
Dr Dan Danahar
One way to know if we have recorded enough butterfly sightings from a site is to record daily until we don't discover any new species.
However, this assumes that we have enough volunteers to record in all the relevant locations on the island.
Even if this was the case the question then becomes: Where do we need to record next?
Read More
Butterfly First/Last Sightings 2023
| Name | Genus / species | First record | Recorder | Last record | Recorder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Admiral | Vanessa_atalanta | 01/01/2023 | Konstantinos Zagkas | 27/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Small Copper | Lycaena_phlaeas | 06/01/2023 | Jane Barry | 27/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Plain Tiger | Danaus_chrysippus | 28/09/2023 | George Kaloyiannis | 27/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Lang's short-tailed Blue | Leptotes_pirithous | 04/01/2023 | Marina | 27/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Cleopatra | Gonepteryx_cleopatra | 01/01/2023 | Giannis Gasteratos | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Wood White | Leptidea_sinapis | 27/02/2023 | Jane Barry | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Small White | Pieris_rapae | 02/01/2023 | Jane Barry | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Painted Lady | Vanessa_cardui | 01/01/2023 | Jane Barry | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Clouded Yellow | Colias_crocea | 01/01/2023 | Jane Barry | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Speckled Wood | Pararge_aegeria | 05/01/2023 | Marina | 24/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Meadow Brown | Maniola_jurtina | 17/04/2023 | Chris Little | 23/11/2023 | Giannis Gasteratos |
| Large White | Pieris_brassicae | 03/01/2023 | Katerina Kyriaki | 21/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Holly Blue | Celastrina_argiolus | 27/02/2023 | Rob Kesseler | 20/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Nettle-tree Butterfly | Libythea_celtis | 17/02/2023 | Jane Barry | 20/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
| Eastern Bath White | Pontia_edusa | 16/02/2023 | Jane Barry | 17/11/2023 | Jane Barry |
Butterflies on the wing in November
The butterfly species listed below have been reported during the month of November in previous years.
Millet Skipper Mallow Skipper Pygmy Skipper Mediterranean Skipper Wood White Brimstone Cleopatra Clouded Yellow Eastern Bath White Large White Small White Small Copper Geranium Bronze Long-tailed Blue Holly Blue Lang's short-tailed Blue Brown Argus Common Blue Southern White Admiral Silver-washed Fritillary Painted Lady Red Admiral Large Tortoiseshell Camberwell Beauty Nettle-tree Butterfly Plain Tiger Wall Brown Speckled Wood Small Heath Meadow BrownLatest Records
| ID | Date | Recorder |
|---|---|---|
| 8651 | 27/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8650 | 27/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8649 | 27/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8646 | 25/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8645 | 24/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8644 | 24/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8643 | 24/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8642 | 24/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8641 | 24/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8640 | 23/11/23 | Giannis Gasteratos |
| 8639 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8638 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8637 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8636 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8635 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8634 | 23/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8632 | 22/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8631 | 22/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8633 | 21/11/23 | Jane Barry |
| 8626 | 20/11/23 | Jane Barry |
Moths on the wing in November
The moth species listed below have been reported during the month of November in previous years.
Silver-striped Hawkmoth Death's Head Hawkmoth Hummingbird HawkmothA Brief Introduction
Find out more about Corfu Butterfly Conservation in this, our first YouTube video.
Corfu Butterfly Atlas
Corfu Butterfly Conservation intends to use all the data generated by the five-year Corfu Butterfly Survey to produce the first truly comprehensive atlas of all the butterflies found in Corfu. This atlas will review the study of butterflies in Corfu, it will contain a key to the identification of all known species and there will be individual accounts on the autecology of each butterfly species, with up-to-date distribution maps and lavishly illustrated with a multitude of full colour photographs.
The atlas will identify the best places to watch butterflies, it will make recommendations for species and habitat conservation and we hope will influence the development of biodiversity policy to help conserve Corfu’s natural heritage. We invite you to be a part of this influential project by submitting your butterfly records on this site.
Butterfly Conservation Europe
In order to conserve butterflies effectively you need good information on where species occur. Only 55% of European countries have national schemes designed to record butterfly distribution and those without are mostly concentrated in southern and eastern Europe. Consequently, Butterfly Conservation Europe supports the establishment of new recording schemes which aim to fill those gaps.
We welcome Corfu Butterfly Conservation’s efforts to run a five-year survey of the island’s butterflies and later publish a Corfu Butterfly Atlas. Furthermore, plans to share the data widely means that the survey results will also contribute to the ongoing assessment of the status of all Europe’s butterflies.
Dr Sam Ellis
Chair, Butterfly Conservation EuropeButterfly Conservation Europe
Butterfly Conservation
Participating in butterfly recording schemes is one of the most effective ways members of the public can contribute to citizen science, which itself can help us understand the current status and therefore potential vulnerability of different butterfly species.
With the right training and support, butterflies can be relatively easy to identify, so potentially everyone can get involved. Corfu Butterfly Conservation does exactly that, with its informal membership - comprising of Corfiots, other Greeks, resident expats and visiting and non-visiting international contributors – that has a passion to contribute to the Corfu Butterfly Survey.
Butterfly Conservation welcomes this initiative bringing people together to record the island’s butterflies and we will support the project to enable it to realise its ambition to publish the Corfu Butterfly Atlas.
Julie Williams
Chief Executive, Butterfly ConservationButterfly Conservation
