Butterflies
Over 350 species of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) have been recorded on Lundy, and some of them occur regularly in spectacular numbers. Visitors to Lundy in the summer months will see many species of butterfly on the wing, including resident species such as the Large and Small Whites, Grayling, Small Copper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.
Migrant butterflies like the Painted Lady and Red Admiral turn up in late summer, and occasionally visitors from further afield like the Clouded Yellow will appear. Sheltered areas like the gardens in Millcombe and the Quarries can be good areas to observe butterflies, but some favour the more open spots where their food plants occur.
Moths
Day-flying moths often attract attention and the brightly marked Garden Tiger and Cream-spot Tiger Moth are amongst the most conspicuous and can usually be found in Millcombe in the summer. In sheltered spots where the Red Valerian grows tiny Hummingbird Hawk-moths may seen visiting the flowers on sunny days. One of the least conspicuous day-flying moths is the Thrift Clearwing, which resembles a large fly. It flies on sunny days in mid-summer where Thrift is abundant, and is probably more common on Lundy than anywhere else in Britain. The slopes around Jenny's Cove are a good site for this elusive insect. The Six-spot Burnet moth has shiny black wings with bright red spots and there are often hundreds visiting Thistle flower heads on summer days. Their empty cocoons may be seen on nearby grass stems.
Most moths fly at night and are unseen by visitors, whilst during the day they rely on their camouflage to remain hidden on rocks, bark or lichens. One species of moth, the Lesser Yellow Underwing, appears in a colour form here unique to Lundy and Scilly, and a tiny micro-moth, Nothris congressariella, lives on Lundy and only two or three other spots in Britain, its larvae feeding in tiny burrows inside the leaves of Balm-leaved Figwort.
A full list of species recorded on Lundy may be viewed here.
Text by Andrew Cleave - September 2013
The LFS has produced a newsletter for members since 1975 and these available as PDFs here. The early ones were very brief and devoted to society business, but later ones contain articles about Lundy as well as news.
Latest edition
The 54th edition of the LFS Bulletin Discovering Lundy was published in January 2025 and distributed to all members. Downloads of the previous editions are available in the Newsletter and Bulletin Archive.
Contributing to the Bulletin
We are always happy to receive any stories of interest from members to consider for inclusion in the next Discovering Lundy bulletin. Please send articles about your recent or historical trips, or anything else relating to Lundy that would be of interest to other LFS members, to Belinda Cox by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Since 2008 the LFS has published academic papers in the Journal, whilst the Annual Report continues to report activities on the island, including bird sightings and other entries from the log book.
Latest edition
The ninth edition of the Journal was published in November 2025. The list of contents may be viewed here.
Previous editions
Lists of contents of all the previous editions of the Journal and downloads of the papers are available in the Journal Archive.
Back numbers of the Journal
Copies of past issues of the Journal are available from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The current issue is priced at £10. Previous issues are available at £5 each. Postage to UK addresses for one copy is an extra £2.50. Please enquire about postage costs for overseas addresses and multiple copies.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Lundy Field Society was celebrated in 1996 by, among other things, publishing Island Studies. The chapters of the book were intended to cover the history of research on the island, the early years of the Lundy Field Society and also to give an overview of the latest findings. The authors, many of whom have researched on Lundy for many years, are all experts in their field but the book is also intended for the non-specialist.
Island Studies is now out of print but downloads are available below.
Contents
- Foreword etc Robert Irving, John Schofield and Chris Webster
- Why Study Islands? John Schofield and Jennifer J George
- History of the LFS Chris Webster
- Lundy's Lost Name Charles Thomas
- Lundy's history in context Clive Harfield
- Geology of Lundy Sandy Smith and Clive Roberts
- Archaeology of Lundy Caroline Thackray
- Marine Archaeology and Lundy Philip Robertson and John Heath
- The Buildings of Lundy Julia Abel Smith
- The Birds of Lundy Tony Taylor
- Wild Mammals of Lundy Ian Linn
- Animal Psychology and Behaviour Hayley Randle
- Lundy's Non-marine invertebrates Tony Parsons
- Botanical Studies Elizabeth Hubbard
- The Freshwater Habitats of Lundy Jennifer J George
- Marine Biological Research at Lundy Keith Hiscock
- Lundy's Marine Nature Reserve Robert Irving and Paul Gilliland
- Lundy Wardens Emma Parkes
- Contributors etc
There are no articles in this category. If subcategories display on this page, they may have articles.
External links
Downloads
Latest news
LFS Journal volume 7 published
We had hoped to distribute copies of the new volume of the Lundy Field Society Journal at the AGM earlier this month. Due to the restrictions on movements, we have been unable to post these, so we have taken the decision to make the Journal available on the website immediately - see here.
Lundy Marine Festival Postponed
The planned Marine Festival on Lundy this summer has been postponed, due to travel retrictions and related concerns over introducing COVID-19 infection to the island. It is hoped to utilise much of the planning for a future event.
Lundy Ambassadors wanted
Rosie Ellis, the new Lundy Education Officer, was due to talk at our AGM about the education programme and the volunteer ambassadors. She currently has 13 ambassadors who help her and Dean, the Warden, to deliver a range of activities. Last year they helped over 700 school children come to the island and guided hundreds of visitors. This year they are anticipating even more events and are keeping the ambassadors very busy, so are looking to recruit some extras!