Butterflies in Bulgaria

On this page

1. Butterflies found in Bulgaria
2. Butterflies of Bulgaria at a glance
3. Signature butterflies of Bulgaria
4. The Bulgarian butterfly calendar
5. Where to see butterflies in Bulgaria
6. Host plants and butterfly gardening in Bulgaria
7. Threatened butterflies and conservation in Bulgaria
8. How to identify a butterfly in Bulgaria
9. Frequently asked questions

Butterflies of Bulgaria at a glance

Bulgaria is one of the richest butterfly countries in Europe for its size. Three faunas meet on this corner of the Balkan Peninsula: central-European species come down the Danube plain, Mediterranean ones push north up the Struma and Mesta valleys, and Pontic and Anatolian species arrive along the Black Sea coast. Rila reaches 2,925 metres at Musala, the highest point in the Balkans, and with Pirin, the Rhodopes and the long wall of the Balkan range (Stara Planina) it gives Bulgaria an alpine fauna most of its neighbours lack.

The result is a list of roughly 215 species, close to half of the European total. The brush-footed butterflies make up nearly half of it, dominated by the browns and ringlets of the high meadows and a long roll of fritillaries. The blues, coppers and hairstreaks contribute about sixty species, including several anomalous blues found nowhere outside the southern Balkans. Whites and sulphurs, skippers, six swallowtail-family species and a single metalmark, the Duke of Burgundy, complete the picture.

Signature butterflies of Bulgaria

The mountain flagship is the Apollo, a big white butterfly with red eyespots that flies over stonecrop slopes between about 1,000 and 2,000 metres in Rila, Pirin, Slavyanka and the Balkan range from late June to August. Its smaller relative, the Clouded Apollo, prefers damp woodland clearings lower down where its caterpillars feed on corydalis.

Bulgaria is one of the few countries with all three European emperors. The Purple Emperor patrols oak and willow woodland in the foothills, the Lesser Purple Emperor takes the river valleys, and Freyer's Purple Emperor follows the willow-lined Danube tributaries in the north. Both big swallowtails are common: the Old World Swallowtail on fennel and wild carrot from the coast to the summits, and the Scarce Swallowtail around blackthorn and orchard trees. The Southern and Eastern Festoons, zig-zag patterned relatives of the swallowtails, fly in April and May wherever birthwort grows along the Struma.

The endemics are what make Bulgaria special. The Bulgarian Ringlet (Erebia orientalis) lives only in the alpine zone of Rila, Pirin and the western Balkan range; Nichol's Ringlet, Dils' Grayling and the Eastern Large Heath are Balkan mountain species that reach their best numbers in the Rhodopes and Pirin; and Kolev's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus orphicus), described from the Rhodopes as recently as 2005, and Higgins's Anomalous Blue on the marble of Slavyanka are among the rarest blues in Europe. The Large Blue, whose caterpillar is reared by red ants, is still widespread in mountain meadows here, unlike in western Europe.

The Bulgarian butterfly calendar

The year begins on the first warm days of March, when the species that hibernate as adults wake up: the Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Comma and, in woodland, the Camberwell Beauty and Large Tortoiseshell. April brings the Orange Tip, the festoons, the Green Hairstreak and the first Grizzled Skippers, and by May the hot Struma valley is already in full swing while snow still lies on Rila.

Diversity peaks from mid-June to early August. Meadows at 800 to 1,500 metres can hold thirty or forty species on a single walk: marbled whites, fritillaries, coppers, a dozen blues and the first ringlets. The high alpine species, the Bulgarian Ringlet, Dewy Ringlet and the Apollo, fly in July and August only. In the lowlands second broods of the Scarce Swallowtail and many blues appear in August, joined by migrant Painted Ladies and Clouded Yellows arriving from the south.

Autumn belongs to the Red Admiral feeding on fallen plums and ivy flowers, sometimes into November on the Black Sea coast. Where each species passes the cold months is explained in our guide to where butterflies go in the winter; in Bulgaria most survive as caterpillars or chrysalises, and only a handful as sleeping adults.

Where to see butterflies in Bulgaria

Almost any unsprayed village meadow in the foothills is worth a stop, but a few areas have become classic destinations.

• Kresna Gorge and the Struma valley — the warmest corner of the country, with Mediterranean species such as Krüper's Small White, the Balkan Pierrot, the Eastern Greenish Black-tip and both festoons from April.
• Pirin National Park and Slavyanka — Apollo, Balkan ringlets and the anomalous blues on marble and limestone above Bansko and Sandanski in July.
• Rila and Vitosha — the Bulgarian Ringlet and other alpine species within an hour or two of Sofia.
• The Western and Eastern Rhodopes — Trigrad, the Chepelare valley and the dry hills around Madzharovo and Krumovgrad, home of the Eastern Large Heath, Dils' Grayling and Kolev's Anomalous Blue.
• Central Balkan National Park — beech forest and high pasture with Purple Emperors below and Erebia ringlets above.
• Strandzha and the Black Sea coast — Cape Kaliakra and the Kamchia forests for late-season migrants and Pontic species.

Host plants and butterfly gardening in Bulgaria

Bulgarian gardens and orchards are already good butterfly habitat; keeping them that way mostly means leaving the right caterpillar food plants alone.

• Nettles in a sunny corner feed the Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Comma and Red Admiral.
• Birthwort (Aristolochia) along a wall or fence is the only food of the Southern and Eastern Festoons.
• Fennel, dill and wild carrot raise Old World Swallowtail caterpillars; blackthorn and fruit trees feed the Scarce Swallowtail, Brown Hairstreak and Black-veined White.
• Buckthorn is needed by the Brimstone, and a mature oak will carry Purple Hairstreaks in its crown every July.
• Bird's-foot trefoil, clovers and vetches support the Common Blue, Adonis Blue and Mazarine Blue; leave a strip of grass unmown for browns and skippers.

For nectar, the native thyme, oregano, knapweeds and scabious of a dry bank outperform any bedding plant, with buddleia and ivy extending the season into autumn.

Threatened butterflies and conservation in Bulgaria

Bulgaria has lost fewer butterflies than most of Europe, but the losses it has suffered follow the same pattern. The False Ringlet (Coenonympha oedippus), a butterfly of wet meadows, has not been confirmed for decades and is treated as extinct in the country, and there have been no reliable recent records of the Danube Clouded Yellow or the Damon Blue. Note that the false ringlet is a different insect from the False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa), which still flies on dry grassland in the south.

The threats are the abandonment of mountain grazing, which lets scrub swallow the flower-rich pastures, the intensification of farming on the Danube plain, ski and road development in Pirin and Rila, and afforestation of open land. Roughly a third of Bulgaria lies inside the Natura 2000 network, and the butterflies protected under it include the Apollo and Clouded Apollo, both festoons, the Large Blue, Scarce Large Blue and Dusky Large Blue, the Large Copper, the Marsh and Scarce Fritillaries and the Danube Clouded Yellow. The national Red Data Book adds the mountain endemics whose whole world range fits inside one or two massifs, and a Bulgarian monitoring scheme now walks fixed transects each summer to track the trends.

Butterflies found in Bulgaria

221 species listed for Bulgaria, grouped by family. Linked names have a full profile on this site with pictures of every life stage.

Brush-Footed (Nymphalidae)

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• Balkan Fritillary (Boloria graeca)
• Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate)
• Woodland Ringlet (Erebia medusa)
• Bright Eyed Ringlet (Erebia oeme)
• Dusky Meadow Brown (Hyponephele lycaon)
• Lesser Spotted Frillitary (Melitaea trivia)
• Freyer's Grayling (Hipparchia fatua)
• Nickerl's Fritillary (Melitaea aurelia)
• Chestnut Heath (Coenonympha glycerion)
• Eastern Large Heath (Coenonympha rhodopensis)
• Ottoman Brassy Ringlet (Erebia ottomana)
• Niobe Fritillary (Fabriciana niobe)
• Dils' Grayling (Pseudochazara orestes)
• Lesser Purple Emperor (Apatura ilia)
• Freyer's Purple Emperor (Apatura metis)
• Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
• False Ringlet (Arethusana arethusa)
• Cardinal (Argynnis pandora)
• Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
• Violet Frillitary (Boloria dia)
• Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne)
• Pales Fritillary (Boloria pales)
• Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daphne)
• Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino)
• Dark Rock Brown (Chazara briseis)
• Russian Heath (Coenonympha leander)
• Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
• Scotch Argus (Erebia aethiops)
• Alpine Heath (Erebia euryale)
• Silky Ringlet (Erebia gorge)
• Meadow Ringlet (Erebia ligea)
• Black Ringlet (Erebia melas)
• Dewy Ringlet (Erebia pandrose)
• Shepherd's Fritillary (Erebia pronoe)
• Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia)
• High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe)
• Niobe Fritillary (Fabriciana niobe)
• Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi)
• Rock Grayling (Hipparchia semele)
• Tree Grayling (Hipparchia statilinus)
• Oriental Meadow Brown (Hipparchia syriaca)
• Southern Marbled Skipper (Hyponephele lupinus)
• Queen of Spain Fritillary (Issoria lathonia)
• Southern White Admiral (Kirinia climene)
• Roxelana's Grayling (Kirinia roxelana)
• Large Wall Brown (Lasiommata maera)
• Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)
• European Nettle-tree Butterfly (Libythea celtis)
• Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
• Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)
• Balkan Marbled White (Melanargia larissa)
• Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia)
• Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)
• Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
• Phoebe Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe)
• Hungarian Glider (Neptis rivularis)
• Large Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis polychloros)
• Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis xanthomelas)
• Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
• Southern Comma (Polygonia egea)
• Dusky Meadow Brown (Pseudochazara anthelea)
• Hedge Brown (Pyronia tithonus)
• Great Sooty Satyr (Satyrus ferula)
• Dark Green Fritillary (Speyeria aglaja)
• False Grayling (Arethusana arethusa)
• Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia)
• Pearly Heath (Coenonympha arcania)
• White Admiral (Limenitis camilla)
• False Heath Fritillary (Melitaea diamina)
• Eastern Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea telona)
• Dryad (Minois dryas)
• Small-eyed Sailor (Hamadryas laodamia)
• Starry Night Cracker (Hamadryas laodamia)
• Map (Araschnia levana)
• Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene)
• Ocellate Bog Fritillary (Boloria eunomia)
• Brintesia Circe (Brintesia circe)
• False Ringlet (Coenonympha oedippus)
• Almond Ringlet (Erebia alberganus)
• Common Brassy Ringlet (Erebia cassioides)
• Bulgarian Ringlet (Erebia orientalis)
• Nichol's Ringlet (Erebia rhodopensis)
• Cynthia's Fritillary (Euphydryas cynthia)
• Scarce Fritillary (Euphydryas maturna)
• High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe)
• Balkan Grayling (Hipparchia senthes)
• Delattin's Grayling (Hipparchia volgensis)
• Northern Wall Brown (Lasiommata petropolitana)
• Poplar Admiral (Limenitis populi)
• Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta)
• Woodland Brown (Lopinga achine)
• Freyer's Fritillary (Melitaea arduinna)
• Assmann'S Fritillary (Melitaea britomartis)
• Pallas' Sailer (Neptis sappho)

Gossamer-Winged (Lycaenidae)

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• Lycaena candens
• Scarce Copper (Lycaena virgaureae)
• Alcon Blue (Phengaris alcon)
• Amanda's Blue (Polyommatus amandus)
• Meleager's Blue (Polyommatus daphnis)
• Blue-spot Hairstreak (Satyrium spini)
• Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon)
• False Eros Blue (Polyommatus eroides)
• Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)
• Blue Argus (Aricia anteros)
• Northern Brown Argus (Aricia artaxerxes)
• Provençal Short-tailed Blue (Cupido alcetas)
• Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades)
• Eastern Short-tailed Blue (Cupido decolorata)
• Osiris Blue (Cupido osiris)
• Green-underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis)
• Iolas Blue (Iolana iolas)
• Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus)
• Lang's Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes pirithous)
• Purple-shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron)
• Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus)
• Chalkhill Blue (Lysandra coridon)
• Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus)
• Reverdin's Blue (Plebejus argyrognomon)
• Idas Blue (Plebejus idas)
• Dorylas Blue (Polyommatus dorylas)
• Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)
• Escher's Blue (Polyommatus escheri)
• Ripart's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus ripartii)
• Glandon Blue (Satyrium acaciae)
• Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium ilicis)
• White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album)
• Orion Blue (Scolitantides orion)
• Balkan Pierrot (Tarucus balkanica)
• Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulae)
• Dark Grass Blue (Zizeeria karsandra)
• Germanium Argus (Eumedonia eumedon)
• Dusky Large Blue (Phengaris nausithous)
• Chapman's Blue (Polyommatus thersites)
• Bronze Line-blue (Ionolyce helicon)
• Long-tailed Pea-blue (Lampides boeticus)
• Balkan Blue (Agriades dardanus)
• Large copper (Lycaena dispar)
• Violet copper (Lycaena helle)
• Grecian copper (Lycaena ottomanus)
• Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus admetus)
• Grecian Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus aroaniensis)
• Higgins's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus nephohiptamenos)
• Kolev's Anomalous Blue (Polyommatus orphicus)
• Eastern Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama)
• Black Hairstreak (Satyrium pruni)
• Balkan Pierrot (Tarucus balkanicus)

Whites and Sulphurs (Pieridae)

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• Green-underside White (Anthocharis gruneri)
• Black-veined White (Aporia crataegi)
• Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale)
• Eastern Dappled White (Euchloe ausonia)
• False Barred Sulphur (Eurema elathea)
• Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe)
• Powdered Brimstone (Gonepteryx farinosa)
• Eastern Wood White (Leptidea duponcheli)
• Wood White (Leptidea sinapis)
• Persian White (Pieris ergane)
• Krüper's Small White (Pieris krueperi)
• Lesser Bath White (Pontia chloridice)
• Eastern Bath White (Pontia edusa)
• Berger's Clouded Yellow (Colias alfacariensis)
• Balkan Clouded Yellow (Colias caucasica)
• Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias erate)
• Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale)
• Danube Clouded Yellow (Colias myrmidone)
• Eastern Greenish Black-Tip (Euchloe penia)
• Réal's Wood White (Leptidea reali)
• Southern Small White (Pieris mannii)

Metalmark (Riodinidae)

• Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina)

Swallowtail (Papilionidae)

• Clouded Apollo (Parnassius mnemosyne)
• Eastern Festoon (Zerynthia cerisy)
• Southern Festoon (Zerynthia polyxena)

Skipper (Hesperiidae)

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• Large Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus alveus)
• Oberthür's Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus armoricanus)
• Sandy-grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus cinarae)
• Hungarian Skipper (Spialia orbifer)
• Chequered Skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon)
• Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)
• Oriental Skipper (Carcharodus orientalis)
• Inky Skipper (Erynnis marloyi)
• Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages)
• Dingy Swift (Gegenes nostrodamus)
• Silver-spotted Skipper (Hesperia comma)
• Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)
• Dusky Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus cacaliae)
• Safflower Skipper (Pyrgus carthami)
• Olive Skipper (Pyrgus serratulae)
• Yellow-banded Skipper (Pyrgus sidae)
• Persian Skipper (Spialia phlomidis)
• Lulworth Skipper (Thymelicus acteon)
• European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
• Small Skipper (Thymelicus sylvestris)
• Tessellated Skipper (Muschampia tessellum)
• Large Chequered Skipper (Heteropterus morpheus)
• Spinose Skipper (Muschampia cribrellum)
• Tufted Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus flocciferus)

How to identify a butterfly in Bulgaria

With more than 200 candidates, start with the family. Browns and ringlets are orange-brown or dark chocolate with eyespots and fly low over grass; fritillaries are bright orange chequered with black and usually have silver or pearl marks underneath; blues need a look at the underside spots, since the males of a dozen species are near-identical above. The whites and sulphurs are sorted by the pattern of the hindwing underside, and skippers by the shape of the white spots on the forewing.

Altitude and place help enormously. A large white butterfly with red spots above 1,200 metres is an Apollo; a dark ringlet in the alpine zone of Rila is very likely the Bulgarian Ringlet; a small orange butterfly with a black margin in the hot Struma valley is probably the Lesser Fiery Copper. Photograph the underside, note the altitude, date and habitat, and compare with the chart above. The faunas of neighbouring Romania, Greece and Turkey overlap heavily with Bulgaria's, and the wider picture is on our Butterflies of the World hub.

Frequently asked questions about Bulgarian butterflies

How many species of butterfly are there in Bulgaria?

About 215 butterfly species have been recorded in Bulgaria, which is close to half of the roughly 480 species known from Europe. That is an exceptional total for a country of 111,000 square kilometres, and it comes from the meeting of central-European, Mediterranean and Anatolian faunas with the alpine species of the Rila, Pirin, Rhodope and Balkan mountains.

Why does Bulgaria have so many butterflies?

Bulgaria sits where three biogeographic regions overlap on the Balkan Peninsula, and its terrain climbs from sea level on the Black Sea to 2,925 metres on Musala within a short distance. Mediterranean valleys, Danube steppe, beech and oak forest, limestone gorges and alpine meadows each carry their own species, and traditional grazing has kept much of the flower-rich habitat intact.

Which butterflies are found only in Bulgaria?

The Bulgarian Ringlet (Erebia orientalis) is the best-known endemic, confined to the alpine zone of Rila, Pirin and the western Balkan range. Several others are near-endemic Balkan species shared only with northern Greece or North Macedonia, including Nichol's Ringlet, Dils' Grayling, the Eastern Large Heath, Higgins's Anomalous Blue and Kolev's Anomalous Blue, described from the Rhodopes in 2005.

Are any butterflies extinct in Bulgaria?

The False Ringlet (Coenonympha oedippus), a wet-meadow species, has not been confirmed in Bulgaria for many decades and is regarded as extinct in the country. The Danube Clouded Yellow and the Damon Blue lack any reliable recent records and may be lost too. The False Grayling, sometimes confused with the False Ringlet, is a different species that still flies in the south.

Is the Purple Emperor found in Bulgaria?

Yes. The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris) breeds in mature oak and willow woodland in the foothills of the Balkan range, the Rhodopes and western Bulgaria, flying from late June to August. Bulgaria also has the two other European emperors, the Lesser Purple Emperor in river valleys and Freyer's Purple Emperor along the willow-lined tributaries of the Danube.

What is the Eastern Large Heath?

The Eastern Large Heath (Coenonympha rhodopensis) is a tawny brown butterfly with small eyespots that lives in mountain grassland above about 1,200 metres. It is named after the Rhodope Mountains, where it was first described, and is a Balkan speciality also found in Pirin, Rila and the neighbouring mountains of Greece and North Macedonia, flying in July.

When is the best time to see butterflies in Bulgaria?

Mid-June to early August is the peak, when mid-altitude meadows between 800 and 1,500 metres can produce thirty or more species in a day. The Struma valley is at its best earlier, from late April to June, while the Apollo and the alpine ringlets of Rila and Pirin do not appear until July. Warm, still mornings are always the most productive.

Where is the best place to see butterflies in Bulgaria?

Kresna Gorge in the Struma valley, Pirin National Park above Bansko, the Western Rhodopes around Trigrad and the Eastern Rhodopes near Madzharovo are the classic sites, and Vitosha and Rila are within easy reach of Sofia. Together they cover the Mediterranean species of the south, the Balkan endemics of the limestone ranges and the alpine ringlets and Apollo.

Which butterflies are protected in Bulgaria?

The Apollo, Clouded Apollo, Southern and Eastern Festoons, Large Blue, Scarce Large Blue, Dusky Large Blue, Large Copper, Marsh Fritillary, Scarce Fritillary and Danube Clouded Yellow are protected under the Biodiversity Act and the EU Habitats Directive, and cannot be collected. The national Red Data Book lists further mountain species whose whole range lies within Bulgaria and its neighbours.

Published October 30, 2023 · Last updated September 21, 2026