The Garden Community for Garden Lovers

Speckled Wood butterfly - Pararge Aegeria


Speckled Wood butterfly - Pararge Aegeria

Butterfly number 2 on my walk today.

This species is common in woods, scrub and tall vegetation throughout southern England and lowland Wales, and appears to be recolonising eastern and northern England and Scotland.
You can often see males perched in pools of sunlight or fluttering upwards in a band of sunshine in an otherwise shady woodland ride. Females lay single, white eggs on a variety of grasses along the sunny edges of woods, rides and hedges.
The caterpillars are bright green with faint, darker green and yellow stripes. They pupate after about 10 days, with the chrysalises suspended beneath grass blades. Unlike any other British butterfly, speckled woods are able to hibernate as either a caterpillar or chrysalis.
Adults feed on aphid honeydew. They are rarely seen on flowers except early and late in the year when there are few aphids. Caterpillars eat various grasses, including false brome, cock's-foot, Yorkshire fog and common couch.



Comments on this photo

 

Smashing pic, Cal! Thanks for sharing with us.

20 May, 2022

 

This one was very hard to capture like this as it kept going amongst the shrubs for a rest in the shade I kept noticing. Thank you Kate.

20 May, 2022



Comment on this photo


Pictures by cariad18
37 of 72

  • 6f020dcf_57bd_4343_9eb9_232ff3ef1d8b
  • 6b7b1f15_aec2_416c_9c99_31e74ed1f0c7

What else?

Members who like this photo

  • Gardening with friends since
    4 Oct, 2008

  • Gardening with friends since
    13 May, 2014

  • Gardening with friends since
    2 Feb, 2019