Butterfly Conservation (BC) are encouraging wildlife enthusiasts to celebrate 250 years of butterfly recording in Hampshire by getting outside and recording what they see.
The very first butterflies to be officially recorded in the county were seen on 8 March in 1766 by famous naturalist, Gilbert White, near his home village of Selborne, near Alton.
In his journal Flora Selborniensis he noted sightings of the distinctive sulphur-coloured Brimstone and the orange and black Small Tortoiseshell - both species which can still be seen today.
These butterflies are often amongst the very first to emerge each year and in 2016, both butterflies were recorded on the wing in early January.
To celebrate the butterfly recording milestone, BC’s Hampshire and Isle of Wight Branch are asking people to download the free iRecord App to record any butterflies they might see over the coming months.
Branch spokesperson, Richard Lemon, said: “The results will help BC monitor how individual species are doing in Hampshire and to decide where to concentrate future conservation work.
“It might not be very warm yet, but like Gilbert White, there is every 
chance you will still see a Brimstone butterfly or a Small Tortoiseshell while out on a walk or in your garden and thanks to our free app, it really couldn’t be any easier to record what you see and to let us know about it.”
The free iRecord Butterflies App can be downloaded from iTunes or the Google.
A small display to mark the 250th anniversary of Butterfly Recording in Hampshire is also on show throughout March at the Gilbert White House Museum in Selborne.