Meadow Brown Brown And Orange Butterfly Uk | Slide Mouse

Several subspecies occur which continues to cause much discussion.

Meadow brown brown and orange butterfly uk. Isle of wight england. This subspecies was first defined in thomson 1969 as shown here and as shown in this plate type locality. Very common with dull orange patches on the wings 2. Finally look out for the ubiquitous but rather lovely meadow brown the gatekeeper another brown and orange butterfly and the speckled wood a butterfly that generally inhabits dappled woodland.

These three species are all very common and widespread in hampshire and the rest of southern uk. The best way to identify the brown butterflies is by looking at the eyespots on their wings. The gatekeeper is generally smaller and more orange with a row of tiny white dots on the hind underwings. Here in cornwall subspecies insularis occurs.

This is the most abundant species in many habitats with hundreds together at some areas. It is brown with an orange patch on each wing around a black eye spot. Have a distinct green colour around the wing veins 3. The extent of brown strength of orange and the number of dots on hindwings of both sexes can be variable.

Widespread and common throughout britain and ireland. Small with a vivid blue colour and unbroken white border 5. Males are darker and slightly smaller than females. It is the only member of the very large nymphalid subfamily satyrinae in this guide.

If you know which butterfly you would like more information on use our butterfly a to z. This subspecies is found throughout england wales and scotland south east of a line between ayrshire in the south west and moray in the north east. One good field mark is the presence of two small eyespots on the upper wings. The similar meadow brown butterfly has much less orange and single pupils in the eyespots.

The combination of its relatively large size orange patches on the forewings only one eyespot on the forewing and none at all on the hindwings is unique to the meadow brown. Small and fast has deep brown and bright orange wings 4. Hundreds may be seen together at some sites flying low over the vegetation. The meadow brown has a wingspan of between 50 and 55 mm.

The gatekeeper and meadow brown are common throughout the new forest but the ringlet is scarcer. The meadow brown is the most abundant butterfly species in many habitats. Identify a butterfly you can set or adjust your search criteria in the left hand column below.