Vorarlberg reports three sightings of rare blue butterfly

Vorarlberg recorded three sightings of the rare Große Wander-Bläuling in 2025, according to ORF. The Austrian state documented 122 day-flying butterfly species, placing it third nationally.

The three sightings were reported in July 2025, with two in Fußach and one in Hard. A Graublauer Bläuling was also recorded in St. Anton im Montafon, bringing the number of particularly notable butterfly finds in Vorarlberg to four.

Across Austria, the Schmetterlinge Österreichs project received 137,722 reports in 2025, covering 181 day-flying butterfly species, or around 84 percent of all such species recorded in the country so far.

The most frequently reported species was the Tagpfauenauge, with 6,415 reports, followed by the Großes Ochsenauge with 5,091 and the Admiral with 4,345. The Hauhechel-Bläuling, Distelfalter, Kleiner Kohl-Weißling, C-Falter, Zitronenfalter, Kaisermantel and Kleines Wiesenvögelchen completed the top ten.

Vorarlberg ranked seventh among Austria’s nine states for the total number of butterfly reports, with 6,954. Burgenland recorded 10,020 reports, while Salzburg had the fewest, with 3,778.

Niederösterreich recorded the highest number of day-flying species in 2025, with 143, followed by Tirol with 123 and Vorarlberg with 122. Styria recorded 119 species, Carinthia 114 and Upper Austria 108. Vienna had the fewest, with 81.

Nationwide, 2,366 reports of 32 butterfly species considered particularly relevant for conservation were submitted in 2025. These included species protected under the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive and species classified as critically endangered or severely threatened on Austria’s Red List of day-flying butterflies.

The results of the 2026 Great Butterfly Count, held from July 20 to August 9, are still being verified for the annual report. More than 1,000 people took part, submitting 17,456 sightings after observing butterflies for 15 minutes at a sunny location and recording them through the Schmetterlinge Österreichs app.

The Kaisermantel was the most frequently reported species in the 2026 count, with 1,981 sightings, followed by the Großes Ochsenauge with 1,723 and the Russische Bär with 1,423. The Kleiner Kohl-Weißling, Hauhechel-Bläuling, Distelfalter, Kleines Wiesenvögelchen, Admiral, Graubindiger Mohrenfalter and Taubenschwänzchen made up the rest of the top ten.

The Schmetterlinge Österreichs citizen science project has been running for ten years. Since the app was launched in 2016, 1,241,511 butterfly sightings have been reported across Austria. The data is anonymised and transferred through the Tyrolean State Museums to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and is also used to compile Austria’s Red Lists.