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Submit your Corfu Butterfly and Moth Sightings...

to Corfu Butterfly Conservation

Submit your sightings

A total of

4316

butterflies have been recorded
in 2023

2023 Chart

A total of

989

records have been submitted online in 2023

2023 Chart

A total of

197

moths have
been recorded
in 2023

2023 Chart

A grand total of

38326

individual butterflies recorded

View Chart

A grand total of

5761

records have been submitted online

View Chart

A grand total of

580

individual
moths
recorded

View Chart

There are 44 records awaiting verification.

There are 140 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

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

Dr Dan Danahar
1st January 2021

Latest Records

ID Date Recorder
5945 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5944 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5943 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5942 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5941 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5940 23/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5918 22/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5917 22/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5916 22/03/23 Anne Sordinas
5915 22/03/23 Anne Sordinas

Due to the sensitive nature of many species on the island of Corfu, we do not divulge location data at the present time.

View Records

Butterfly First Sightings 2023

Name Genus / species First Record Recorder
Southern Festoon Zerynthia polyxena 12/03/2023 Jane Barry
Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius 02/03/2023 Marina
Swallowtail Papilio machaon 15/02/2023 Jane Barry
Mallow Skipper Carcharodus alceae 01/03/2023 Jane Barry
Wood White Leptidea sinapis 27/02/2023 Jane Barry
Cleopatra  Gonepteryx cleopatra 01/01/2023 Jane Barry
Clouded Yellow Colias croceus 01/01/2023 Jane Barry
Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines 20/03/2023 Jane Barry
Eastern Dappled White Euchloe ausonia 17/02/2023 Anne Sordinas
Eastern Bath White Pontia edusa 16/02/2023 Jane Barry
Large White Pieris brassicae 03/01/2023 Katerina Kyriaki
Small White Pieris rapae 02/01/2023 Jane Barry
Green-veined White Pieris napi 09/03/2023 Jane Barry
Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas 06/01/2023 Jane Barry
Grecian Copper Lycaena ottomana 19/03/2023 Ida Dickson
Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi 19/03/2023 Anne Sordinas
Geranium Bronze  Cacyreus marshalli 13/01/2023 Konstantinos Zagkas
Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus 04/01/2023 Anne Sordinas
Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus 28/02/2023 Jane Barry
Lang's short-tailed Blue Leptotes pirithous 04/01/2023 Marina
Brown Argus Aricia agestis 22/03/2023 Jane Barry
Common Blue Polyommatus icarus 22/03/2023 Jane Barry
Painted Lady Vanessa cardui 01/01/2023 Jane Barry
Red Admiral  Vanessa atalanta 01/01/2023 Jane Barry
Peacock  Aglais io 16/02/2023 Ida Dickson
Southern Comma Polygonia egea 20/02/2023 Jane Barry
Large Tortoiseshell  Nymphalis polychloros 04/01/2023 Giannis Gasteratos
Camberwell Beauty Nymphalis antiopa 12/03/2023 Jane Barry
Nettle-tree Butterfly Libythea celtis 17/02/2023 Jane Barry
Wall Brown Lasiommata megera 04/01/2023 Jane Barry
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria 05/01/2023 Marina
View First/Last Sightings

Butterflies on the wing in March

The butterfly species listed below have been reported during the month of March in previous years.

Southern Festoon Scarce Swallowtail Swallowtail Mallow Skipper Wood White Brimstone Cleopatra Clouded Yellow Orange-tip Eastern Dappled White Eastern Bath White Large White Small White Green-veined White Small Copper Grecian Copper Green Hairstreak Geranium Bronze Holly Blue Green underside Blue Painted Lady Red Admiral Peacock Small Tortoiseshell Southern Comma Large Tortoiseshell Camberwell Beauty Nettle-tree Butterfly Wall Brown Speckled Wood

Moths on the wing in March

The moth species listed below have been reported during the month of March in previous years.

Southern Emperor Moth Spurge Hawkmoth Hummingbird Hawkmoth

A Brief Introduction

Find out more about Corfu Butterfly Conservation in this, our first YouTube video.

YouTube Channel

Corfu Butterfly Atlas

Corfu Butterfly AtlasCorfu 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.

Twitter

Latest News

Willowherb Hawk Moth Watch

willowherb2021

03/05/2021
Tony Pittaway

On 19th June 2014, John Denne posted our only sighting of Proserpinus proserpina - the Willowherb...


What does it take to start a conservation project in another country?

linnean

27/04/2021
Dr Sam Ellis

Dr Dan Danahar will show us the challenges and the joys, as he makes this presentation from Corfu...


Southern Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavoniella) photographed in Corfu

SouthernEmperorNumber1

31/03/2021
Jane Barry

This female moth was found on the coast road from Roda to Acharavi, in the extreme north of Corfu...


More News
Corfu Butterfly Conservation

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

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

 

Butterfly Conservation Europe
European Butterfly Group
Butterfly Conservation
Ionian University

Submit your Corfu Butterfly and Moth Sightings...

to Corfu Butterfly Conservation

Submit your sightings