This table lists the earliest sightings of resident and regular migrant butterfly species in 2009 reported to Butterfly Conservation HQ and Nick Bowles.
These first sightings are gathered as the butterfly season progresses so as to provide up-to-date information about species emergence. They are not reviewed retrospectively by reference to transect data or distribution records and therefore represent what we believed to be the first report of a species at the time rather than a comprehensive analysis of the actual first dates recorded in a particular year.
First sightings for previous years (2002-2008) can be viewed here as a .pdf file.
Last update: 28th August, 2009
| Vernacular name | Scientific name | Date | Location |
| Chequered Skipper | Carterocephalus palaemon | 11 May | Argyll |
| Small Skipper | Thymelicus sylvestris | 1 June | West Midlands |
| Essex Skipper | Thymelicus lineola | 21 June | Bedfordshire and Hampshire |
| Lulworth Skipper | Thymelicus acteon | 27 May | Dorset |
| Silver-spotted Skipper | Hesperia comma | 16 July | Oxfordshire and Sussex |
| Large Skipper | Ochlodes sylvanus | 21 May | Hertfordshire |
| Dingy Skipper | Erynnis tages | 11 Apr | Kent |
| Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | 30 Mar | Sussex |
| Swallowtail | Papilio machaon | 18 May | Norfolk |
| Wood White | Leptidea sinapis | 20 Apr | Buckinghamshire |
| Réal's Wood White | Leptidea reali | 1 May | Co. Armagh |
| Clouded Yellow | Colias croceus | 12 Apr | Dorset |
| Brimstone | Gonepteryx rhamni | 26 Jan | Oxfordshire |
| Large White | Pieris brassicae | 14 Mar | Sussex |
| Small White | Pieris rapae | 20 Feb | Hertfordshire |
| Green-veined White | Pieris napi | 15 Mar | Hampshire |
| Orange-tip | Anthocharis cardamines | 21 Mar | Hampshire |
| Green Hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | 3 Apr | Yorkshire |
| Brown Hairstreak | Thecla betulae | 20 July | Sussex |
| Purple Hairstreak | Neozephyrus quercus | 6 June | Sussex |
| White-letter Hairstreak | Satyrium w-album | 4 June | Middlesex |
| Black Hairstreak | Satyrium pruni | 4 June | Oxfordshire |
| Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 15 Mar | Dorset |
| Small Blue | Cupido minimus | 26 Apr | Buckinghamshire |
| Silver-studded Blue | Plebeius argus | 29 May | Cornwall & Sussex |
| Brown Argus | Plebeius agestis | 22 Apr | Cambridgeshire & Dorset |
| Northern Brown Argus | Plebeius artaxerxes | 29 May | Borders & Yorkshire |
| Common Blue | Polyommatus icarus | 8 Apr | Kent |
| Chalkhill Blue | Polyommatus coridon | 30 June | Isle of Wight |
| Adonis Blue | Polyommatus bellargus | 20 Apr | Kent |
| Holly Blue | Celastrina argiolus | 18 Mar | Somerset |
| Large Blue | Glaucopsyche arion | 2 June | Somerset |
| Duke of Burgundy | Hamearis lucina | 15 Apr | Hampshire |
| White Admiral | Limenitis camilla | 7 June | Middlesex |
| Purple Emperor | Apatura iris | 23 June | Surrey and Sussex |
| Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta | 11 Jan | Essex |
| Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui | 1 Apr | Somerset |
| Small Tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | 18 Jan | Buckinghamshire |
| Peacock | Inachis io | 5 Jan | Isle of Wight |
| Comma | Polygonia c-album | 20 Feb | Oxfordshire |
| Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria selene | 6 May | Cornwall |
| Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria euphrosyne | 19 Apr | Devon, Sussex and Wiltshire |
| High Brown Fritillary | Argynnis adippe | 3 June | Devon |
| Dark Green Fritillary | Argynnis aglaja | 29 May | Devon |
| Silver-washed Fritillary | Argynnis paphia | 7 June | Surrey |
| Marsh Fritillary | Euphydryas aurinia | 3 May | Dorset |
| Glanville Fritillary | Melitaea cinxia | 24 Apr | Isle of Wight |
| Heath Fritillary | Melitaea athalia | 22 May | Kent |
| Speckled Wood | Pararge aegeria | 26 Jan | Surrey |
| Wall Brown | Lasiommata megera | 15 Mar | Kent |
| Mountain Ringlet | Erebia epiphron | 27 June | Cumbria |
| Scotch Argus | Erebia aethiops | 10 July | Highland |
| Marbled White | Melanargia galathea | 8 June | Surrey |
| Grayling | Hipparchia semele | 23 June | Norfolk |
| Gatekeeper | Pyronia tithonus | 3 May | Devon |
| Meadow Brown | Maniola jurtina | 1 May | Somerset |
| Ringlet | Aphantopus hyperantus | 10 June | Sussex |
| Small Heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | 19 Apr | Surrey and Wiltshire |
| Large Heath | Coenonympha tullia | 10 June | Co. Armagh |

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