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Here are 2008's earliest sightings of resident and migrant butterflies, as reported to Butterfly Conservation.
All resident species have now been reported in 2008.
Last update: 8th September, 2008
| Vernacular name | Scientific name | Date | Location |
| Chequered Skipper | Carterocephalus palaemon | 12 May | Argyll |
| Small Skipper | Thymelicus sylvestris | 7 June | Isle of Wight & Kent |
| Essex Skipper | Thymelicus lineola | 18 June | Cambridgeshire |
| Lulworth Skipper | Thymelicus acteon | 23 May | Dorset |
| Silver-spotted Skipper | Hesperia comma | 23 July | Surrey |
| Large Skipper | Ochlodes sylvanus | 18 May | Cornwall |
| Dingy Skipper | Erynnis tages | 14 April | Glamorgan |
| Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | 8 April | Isle of Wight |
| Swallowtail | Papilio machaon | 22 May | Norfolk |
| Wood White | Leptidea sinapis | 6 May | Buckinghamshire |
| Réal's Wood White | Leptidea reali | 27 April | Co.Down |
| Clouded Yellow | Colias croceus | 3 April | Devon & Isle of Wight |
| Brimstone | Gonepteryx rhamni | 8 Jan | Wiltshire |
| Large White | Pieris brassicae | 12 Feb | Hampshire |
| Small White | Pieris rapae | 8 Feb | Hampshire |
| Green-veined White | Pieris napi | 30 March | Bedfordshire |
| Orange-tip | Anthocharis cardamines | 25 March | Devon |
| Green Hairstreak | Callophrys rubi | 14 April | Hampshire |
| Brown Hairstreak | Thecla betulae | 13 July | Pembrokeshire |
| Purple Hairstreak | Neozephyrus quercus | 9 June | Isle of Wight |
| White-letter Hairstreak | Satyrium w-album | 13 June | Hampshire |
| Black Hairstreak | Satyrium pruni | 9 June | Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire |
| Small Copper | Lycaena phlaeas | 3 April | Kent |
| Small Blue | Cupido minimus | 28 April | Dorset |
| Silver-studded Blue | Plebeius argus | 30 May | Cornwall |
| Brown Argus | Plebeius agestis | 7 May | Isle of Wight |
| Northern Brown Argus | Plebeius artaxerxes | 26 May | Ayrshire |
| Common Blue | Polyommatus icarus | 22 April | Kent |
| Chalkhill Blue | Polyommatus coridon | 3 July | Hampshire & Sussex |
| Adonis Blue | Polyommatus bellargus | 22 April | Kent |
| Holly Blue | Celastrina argiolus | 9 Feb | Hampshire |
| Large Blue | Glaucopsyche arion | 6 June | Gloucestershire |
| Duke of Burgundy | Hamearis lucina | 22 April | Hampshire |
| White Admiral | Limenitis camilla | 10 June | Hampshire |
| Purple Emperor | Apatura iris | 24 June | Surrey and Sussex |
| Red Admiral | Vanessa atalanta | 1 Jan | Kent |
| Painted Lady | Vanessa cardui | 25 Jan | Hampshire |
| Small Tortoiseshell | Aglais urticae | 25 Jan | Yorkshire |
| Peacock | Inachis io | 6 Jan | Leicestershire & Sussex |
| Comma | Polygonia c-album | 26 Jan | Sussex |
| Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria selene | 3 May | Cornwall |
| Pearl-bordered Fritillary | Boloria euphrosyne | 22 April | Devon |
| High Brown Fritillary | Argynnis adippe | 10 June | Devon |
| Dark Green Fritillary | Argynnis aglaja | 2 June | Glamorgan |
| Silver-washed Fritillary | Argynnis paphia | 12 June | Sussex |
| Marsh Fritillary | Euphydryas aurinia | 7 May | Dorset |
| Glanville Fritillary | Melitaea cinxia | 2 May | Isle of Wight |
| Heath Fritillary | Melitaea athalia | 23 May | Kent |
| Speckled Wood | Pararge aegeria | 26 Jan | Devon |
| Wall Brown | Lasiommata megera | 15 April | Dorset |
| Mountain Ringlet | Erebia epiphron | 23 June | Argyll |
| Scotch Argus | Erebia aethiops | 24 July | Highland |
| Marbled White | Melanargia galathea | 8 June | Oxfordshire & Sussex |
| Grayling | Hipparchia semele | 6 June | Conwy |
| Gatekeeper | Pyronia tithonus | 23 June | Hampshire |
| Meadow Brown | Maniola jurtina | 25 May | Devon |
| Ringlet | Aphantopus hyperantus | 10 June | Wiltshire |
| Small Heath | Coenonympha pamphilus | 22 April | Kent |
| Large Heath | Coenonympha tullia | 31 May | Western Isles |
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.