A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Pyronia tithonus
Male. The gatekeeper butterfly prefers the habitat of meadow margins and hedges. The adults are often found around blackberry brambles. The adult butterflies have a quite short proboscis and the flowers of the blackberry being quite shallow provide an excellent nectar source. Males have a dark patch of scent scales in the middle of the forewing for courtship purposes except in very old individuals. The Gatekeeper likes to rest with its wings open and the eyespots visible.
Pine tree copses and meadows
It is called "Gatekeeper" apparently due to its frequent occurrence near field gates and to the man who was responsible for the toll gates in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Spotted on Aug 5, 2016
Submitted on Feb 6, 2017
No Comments