Speckled Wood

Description:

The Speckled Wood is a common butterfly and familiar to many observers, especially in woodland where, as its name suggests, it is most often found. The appearance of this butterfly changes from north to south, forming a "cline", where individuals in the north are dark brown with white spots, with those in more southerly locations being dark brown with orange spots. This has given rise to a number of named subspecies. Females have brighter and more distinct markings than males. The wingspan of both males and females is 4–4.5 cm, although males tend to be slightly smaller than females. Males are highly territorial and will defend their territory against intruding males. Two basic strategies exist for finding females: some males will vigorously defend a perch and the immediate surroundings, waiting for females to pass by; others will patrol a larger territory. Males have either 3 or 4 upper hindwing eyespots; the fourth spot shows only in flight. It appears that the 4-spotted morph tends towards patrolling behaviour to finds mates.

Habitat:

As its names suggests, this butterfly is primarily found in woodland, but can be found anywhere there is sufficient scrub to provide the shaded conditions that this butterfly favours which includes gardens and hedgerows.