may Entomology - sPECKLED WOOD

Speckled Wood

Parage Aegeria

Wingspan: 4.6-5.6cm

On the wing: March to October

Please forgive me, I’m no butterfly expert, I’ve simply fallen in love with spotting and painting them, I think they make the perfect greeting card illustration and well, they’re just so beautiful. The speckled wood is becoming my favourite of all the butterflies, it features on my home page and even on all my packaging stickers. Where me and Ted walk the dogs at the bottom of the airfield is a bit of a wood, it’s just a concrete road towered either side by an array of different native trees, there’s hazel, elder, poplar, firs, pines, oaks, willows and sycamores and it’s absolutely teaming with Speckled Wood butterflies. Apart from the odd white or admiral the Speckled Wood tends to be the main friend I make down there.

The Speckled wood is a medium sized butterfly that can be seen in flight between March and October in up to 3 broods a year. It is found throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and increasingly in Scotland. There are a few subspecies of this butterfly which is why people in the south might note a lighter brown butterfly with orange spots and people further north (like me) will see a darker brown with white spots. You will most likely find them in woodland but can be found anywhere there is sufficient scrub to provide their much loved dappled shade.

The males are highly territorial and will rest in prominent sunlight and see off any other males in the vicinity whilst waiting for a passing female. Both males and females feed on honeydew but if this is in short supply they can also feed from other plants such as ragwort and cuckooflower while the caterpillars feed on a variety of grasses, including false broom and cock's-foot.