Four species of butterflies are reported from Nauru for the first time and as first records of butterflies from the island republic. None is endemic. Three of the four species are widespread in Oceania: Badamia exclamationis (Fabricius), Danaeus plexippus (Linnaeus), and Hypolimnas bolina (Linnaeus). The other, Petrelaea tombugensis (Röber), belongs to a genus that also is widespread in the Pacific. The small number of widespread species found on Nauru is comparable with the situation encountered on other small, remote, low-lying Pacific islands.