Worlds Most Beautiful Butterflies and How to Attract Butterflies To Your Garden

The butterfly is generally a welcome visitor to a home or garden, though caterpillars can be less so - often being thought of as pests, who eat vegetables, crops and fruits, which makes them fairly unpopular. Because of this, many caterpillars are killed which has inevitably affected many butterfly species' population - some, more so than others.

Not all of the butterflies on this list are rare, but all have spectacular colouring, markings or shape (or all three), which really make them stand out. If you have any butterfly species that you think should be added to this list then please let me know and I will update!

graphium agamemnon

These butterflies are predominantly green and black and are fairly widespread; found in Sri Lanka, Australia, India and Southeast Asia. They are relatively common and feed on the nectar of plants such as Poinsettia, Lantana, Ixora and Mussaenda, though it's primary food plant is Mast Tree.

lamproptera curius

This butterfly is commonly referred to as the White Dragontail due to the slender, long tips of it's tail and the fact that in flight it is similar to a dragonfly. Lamproptera curius originates from South and Southeast Asia and sadly, is now considered a rare species. It is extremely active and rarely settles for much time, except when feeding on plants such as Illegera platyandra, which is listed as a protected plant in Hong Kong.

It is the smallest butterfly belonging to the swallowtail or 'papilionidea' family, and it's wingspan is usually only about 5cm, which is about half the usual wingspan for swallowtails.

polygonia comma

This beautiful little butterfly is relatively common and can be found in England and Wales. The Eastern Comma gets it's name from a small, white marking on the underside of the wing, which is the exact shape of a comma. The jagged, shaped edges of the Comma's wings allow excellent camouflage when it is resting or perched on trees/plants as it looks identical to a dried leaf.

It has a wingspan of 5cm to 6.4cm and feeds on a variety of foods including Nettles, Elm and Willow.

appolo ssp. norwegicus

The Appolo butterfly is fast becoming exceptionally rare for many reasons - one of which is because they are being collected by butterfly enthusiasts, who want as many of this species as possible (there are also many subspecies). The Appolo is a member of the swallowtail family, and is typically found in flowery mead own and mountainous areas, such as the Alps between France and Italy. They are also found

zerynthia polyxena

This stunning and unusual butterfly has a wingspan of 6-8cm and can be seen between April and June in warm, sunny and open areas such as meadows, brushy areas, wasteland and rocky cliffs. They lay their eggs on a variety of plants, but mainly birthworts, especially aristolochia clematitis and are found in Southern and Central Europe. The larvae of this butterfly produce toxins, which make them inedible, meaning that the majority of the Southern Festoon's caterpillars survive.

limenitis arthemis astyanax

papilio troilus

bhutanis lidderdalii

chorinea sylphina

papilio glaucus

This remarkably butterfly can be found in Central and South America and also the Caribbean - it is also known as the 'Clown Butterfly' for it's underside markings.

eurytides marcellus

papilio ulysses

cethasia biblis

junonia orithya

trogonaptera brookiena

heliconius sara

troides aeacus

papilio mandeii

siproeta stebnes

teinopaipus imperialis