The latest results from the annual UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS) were published last week and the red admiral stole the headlines north of the border - with the butterly having its best ever year in Scotland.
The UKBMS, which began in 1976, is one of the world's longest-running insect monitoring schemes, led by Butterfly Conservation, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).
The latest results show a "mixed picture" for UK butterflies in 2023, with some species soaring while others continued worrying declines.
Across the UK, half of the 58 species had a better than average year while the other half were below average at monitored sites.
In Scotland, where 27 species (out of 35 native species) were monitored across 269 sites, 16 species increased in abundance compared with 2022, with ten in decline and one showing no change.
The figures also show how species have fared over the last decade, giving a fascinating picture of the butterflies you are now far more likely to see in Scotland than back in 2014.
Here are the 10 species of butterfly that have enjoyed the largest rise in numbers in Scotland over the last 10 year.
The latest results show a "mixed picture" for UK butterflies in 2023, with some species soaring while others continued worrying declines.
5. Large White
A familiar sight in many gardens, the large white has enjoyed a 126 per cent increase over the last decade in Scotland. One of the group of butterflies known as 'cabbage whites' - or the Pieridae family to give them their scientific name - the large white's caterpillars do often feed on cabbage leaves. They are fairly common across the Central Belt and Borders, though less so in the north of Scotland. The adults can be seen on the wing from April to December.
If you are in a Scottish meadow and see a brown butterfly the chances are that it's a meadow brown - particularly now there are 88 per cent more around compared to a decade ago. On the wing from late June to September, long grass and a bit of sun is all the butterfly seems to need to thrive. Wide regional variations in the spotting pattern on the wings have led to it being studied extensively by geneticists over many years.
While not having had quite a successful last 10 years as their larger cousins, there are still 64 per cent more small whites in Scotland than in 2014. It is relatively easy to distinguish from the Large White due to its more diminutive size and has a similar distribution, on the wing during the summer months.
The stunning crimson peacock is one of Scotland's most common butterflies and its numbers are still rising - up 60 per cent over 10 years. Regularly seen in gardens, caterpillars feed on nettles and the adults overwinter in Scotland, emerging on the first warm day of spring. Many also arrive from England over the first half of the year, bolstering numbers further.