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Speckled Wood, maculada

Pararge aegeria

Description:

The Speckled Wood is a butterfly found in and on the borders of woodland throughout much of the Palearctic ecozone. 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. 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. This agrees with the probable function of the eyespots to entice predators like birds to aim for the wing margin (which may be damaged without much affecting the butterfly) rather than the body. On the other hand, habitat is apparently a major factor influencing mate-finding strategy as perching behavior is more common in males of conifer woodland, whereas males of meadows tend towards patrolling behavior. The caterpillar is green with a short, forked tail and feeds on various species of grass, especially couch grass. The chrysalis (pupa) is green or dark brown. The species is unique in its ability to overwinter in two totally separated developmental stages, as pupae or as half-grown larvae. This leads to a complicated pattern of several adult flights per year.

Habitat:

Spotted at high altitude mountains, 1500 m.

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1 Comment

arlanda
arlanda 11 years ago

ID changed to Speckle wood, Pararge aegeria

arlanda
Spotted by
arlanda

Navarredonda de Gredos, Castilla y León, Spain

Spotted on Aug 25, 2012
Submitted on Nov 5, 2012

Related Spottings

Pararge aegeria Bont zandoogje (Pararge aegeria) Waldbrettspiel Speckled Wood

Nearby Spottings

Flesh-fly, moscarda de la carne Mistle Thrush, zorzal charlo European robin, petirrojo Short-toed Treecreeper, Agateador común

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