Nymphalidae : Satyrinae
Meadow Brown
MANIOLA jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
M.j.splendida White, 1871-NW Scotland and the Isle of Man,Hebrides
M.j.iernes Graves, 1930-Ireland
M.j.cassiteridum Graves, 1930-Isles of Scilly
Meadow Brown
MANIOLA jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
M.j.splendida White, 1871-NW Scotland and the Isle of Man,Hebrides
M.j.iernes Graves, 1930-Ireland
M.j.cassiteridum Graves, 1930-Isles of Scilly
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male : 36-44mm : Female : 37-46mm
Worldwide Distribution: Canary Islands : N.Africa : Europe - Urals, : Asia Minor : Iran
UK Distribution: Common and widespread in Britain and Ireland
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: UK-Middle June-Late September : Univoltine
Habitat: Meadows : Heathland : Coastal Dunes : Roadside Verges : Hedgerows : Woodland Rides : Waste Ground
Ovum: The pudding shaped,spherical domed eggs are white with light brown mottling and are deposited in two distinct ways,either carefully placed on blades of grass or simple allowed to drop to the ground by a perching female.(See photos on ovum section below.
Larva: In the summer the small young caterpillar feeds on grasses during the day but are well camouflaged and too small to be discovered.Hibernation takes place in a clump of grass,emerging occasionally to feed as the weather permits.
They resume feeding in the spring where,after the second,third instar they feed nocturnally.The fully grown caterpillar is green with a lateral white stripe and a white tail, amking the easiest of the "brown" larvae to be fond in the field.Larvae usually pupate by early June.
Pupa: The chrysalis varies in colour between pale green with brown spots and dashes to almost white. The papal stage lasts between two and four weeks.
Overwinters as: Early stage Larva
Observations: The Meadow Brown has declined considerable over the past century,mostly attributed to improvements in agriculture on the lowland grasslands but is still one of the most abundant butterflies seen in its many habitats.The bad summer of last year appears to greatly helped this butterfly due to the dramatic increase in grass growth possibly making it the winner in a wet summer.
This fairly large plain butterfly tends to be variable in both sexes with the male having very little orange markings on the forewing when compared with the female, and two clearly marked sex brands which can be seen in photos 1 & 3 below.The male also has feint black hindwing spots which can be variable between the individuals.
The female generally has orange markings which can stretch into the basal and hindwing areas but this marking is variable as can be seen below in photos 2 & 4. Both sexes have black eye spots with a central white pupil.
It is not uncommon to find pathological abberants,usually females, which is marked with white patches, as shown below.
The Meadow is usually on show throughout June to early October and is one of those butterflies that can be seen flying, even in cloudy conditions.
The butterfly has been well studied and has been found to vary somewhat in appearance throughout its range with the most beautiful forms of the species appearing in Ireland,Isles of Scilly and in Scotland, all of which are clearly identified overleaf on the taxonomy page.
Worldwide Distribution: Canary Islands : N.Africa : Europe - Urals, : Asia Minor : Iran
UK Distribution: Common and widespread in Britain and Ireland
UK Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Red List
- Least Concern
- Papilio jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Papilio jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758)
- North Africa & South West Europe
Flight Period: UK-Middle June-Late September : Univoltine
Habitat: Meadows : Heathland : Coastal Dunes : Roadside Verges : Hedgerows : Woodland Rides : Waste Ground
Ovum: The pudding shaped,spherical domed eggs are white with light brown mottling and are deposited in two distinct ways,either carefully placed on blades of grass or simple allowed to drop to the ground by a perching female.(See photos on ovum section below.
Larva: In the summer the small young caterpillar feeds on grasses during the day but are well camouflaged and too small to be discovered.Hibernation takes place in a clump of grass,emerging occasionally to feed as the weather permits.
They resume feeding in the spring where,after the second,third instar they feed nocturnally.The fully grown caterpillar is green with a lateral white stripe and a white tail, amking the easiest of the "brown" larvae to be fond in the field.Larvae usually pupate by early June.
Pupa: The chrysalis varies in colour between pale green with brown spots and dashes to almost white. The papal stage lasts between two and four weeks.
Overwinters as: Early stage Larva
Observations: The Meadow Brown has declined considerable over the past century,mostly attributed to improvements in agriculture on the lowland grasslands but is still one of the most abundant butterflies seen in its many habitats.The bad summer of last year appears to greatly helped this butterfly due to the dramatic increase in grass growth possibly making it the winner in a wet summer.
This fairly large plain butterfly tends to be variable in both sexes with the male having very little orange markings on the forewing when compared with the female, and two clearly marked sex brands which can be seen in photos 1 & 3 below.The male also has feint black hindwing spots which can be variable between the individuals.
The female generally has orange markings which can stretch into the basal and hindwing areas but this marking is variable as can be seen below in photos 2 & 4. Both sexes have black eye spots with a central white pupil.
It is not uncommon to find pathological abberants,usually females, which is marked with white patches, as shown below.
The Meadow is usually on show throughout June to early October and is one of those butterflies that can be seen flying, even in cloudy conditions.
The butterfly has been well studied and has been found to vary somewhat in appearance throughout its range with the most beautiful forms of the species appearing in Ireland,Isles of Scilly and in Scotland, all of which are clearly identified overleaf on the taxonomy page.
Subspecies
M. j.insularis Thompson, 1969-Throughout its range but not Ireland : N W Scotland : Isles of Scilly.
M. j.insularis Thompson, 1969-Throughout its range but not Ireland : N W Scotland : Isles of Scilly.
Pathological Variations
Ovum
The Meadow Brown female either glues her ovum to grasses as shown in the photos below or she
just drops the ovum onto grasses in flight.
The Meadow Brown female either glues her ovum to grasses as shown in the photos below or she
just drops the ovum onto grasses in flight.
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Meadow Brown larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
The larvae also feed on the following list of hostplant names :-
Meadow Brown larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
The larvae also feed on the following list of hostplant names :-
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Poaceae - Gramineae - True Grasses Family
- Agrostis canina - Brown Bent - Velvet Bent
- Agrostis stolonifera - Creeping Bent - Spreading Bent
- Alopecurus pratensis - Meadow Foxtail - Field Meadow Foxtail
- Anthoxanthum odoratum - Sweet vernal grass
- Avenula pubescens - Downy Oat-grass
- Brachypodium phoenicoides - Thinleaf False Brome
- Brachypodium pinnatum - Tor-grass
- Bromus erectus - Upright Brome - Meadow Brome
- Elymus repens - Couch grass
- Festuca arundinacea - Tall Fescue
- Festuca pratensis - Meadow Fescue
- Festuca rubra - Red Fescue - Creeping Red Fescue
- Holcus lanatus - Yorkshire-fog
- Lolium perenne - Perennial Ryegrass
- Macrochloa tenacissima - Esparto Grass
- Poa annua - Annual Meadow Grass
- Poa pratensis - Smooth Meadow-grass - Common Meadow-grass
- Poa trivialis - Rough-stalked meadow-grass
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Poaceae - Gramineae - Lolium - Ryegrass / Milium - Millet Grass
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - MANIOLA: Original Species Name: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Nymphalidae Satyrinae Maniolini MANIOLA Schrank, 1801 Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) - Papiio jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) - PAPILIO jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) = Epinephele jurtina Linnaeus, 1758 = Epinephele janira Linnaeus, 1758 = Maniola lemur Schrank, 1801 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.475 n.104 - N.Africa and SW.Europe - M.j. addenda Mousley, 1903 M.j. alba Blackie, 1920 M.j. anommata Verity, 1904 M.j. anticrassipuncta Leeds, 1950 M.j. antiparvipuncta Leeds, 1950 M.j. cinerea Cosmovici, 1892 M.j. grisea-aurea Oberthür, 1909 M.j. minor Leeds, 1950 M.j. nigrianira Johnstone, 1941 M.j. postatrescens Leeds, 1950 M.j. postaurolancea Leeds, 1950 M.j. postfulvosa Leeds, 195 M.j. postmultifidus Lipscomb, 1980 M.j. radiata Frohawk, 1938 M.j. wauteiri Lambillion, 1905 - M.j.insularis Thompson, 1969-Throughout its range but not Ireland : N W Scotland : Isles of Scilly. M.j.splendida White, 1871-North-west Scotland and the Isle of Man,Hebrides M.j.iernes Graves, 1930-Ireland M.j.cassiteridum Graves, 1930-Isles of Scilly M.j.hispulla Esper, 1805-Iberian Peninsula,Baleares,S,C & N-W France,Corsica & Sardinia M.j.hyperhispulla Thomson,1973 M.j.jurtina Linnaeus,1758-Canary Islands,Morocco,N Algeria,NW Tunisia,Malta & Scicily - Nominate Subspecies M.j.janira Linnaeus, 1758-Europe from Fennoscandia & N-E France to Ural Mountains M.j.strandiana Oberthür, 1936 M.j.persica LeCerf, 1912 M.j.phormia Fruhstorfer, 1909-Italy : S Austria : Slovenia : Balkans : Asia Minor : Transcaucasia : Caucasus : South-east Europe from S Ukraine to N-W Kazakhstan M.j.chia Thomson, 1987-Greece-endemic of Aegean islands of Chios & Inousses |