Nymphalidae : Satyrinae
Great Banded Grayling
BRINTESIA circe (Fabricius, 1775)
Great Banded Grayling
BRINTESIA circe (Fabricius, 1775)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male - 48-62mm Female - 62-80mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Including - Albania,Andorra,Austria,Bosnia H,Bulgaria,Corsica,Croatia,Czech Republic,European Turkey,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Italy,Luxembourg,Macedonia,Poland,Portugal,Romania,C & S Russia,Sardinia,Sicily,Slovakia,Slovenia,
Spain,Switzerland,Ukraine, Serbia, Kosovo, Voivodina, Montenegro) : Asia minor : Iran : Turkey : Caucasus : Transcaucasia
UK Distribution: Europe only
European Distribution Status -
Flight Period Europe: June - September with peak flight July - early August
Habitat: Grassy areas with trees and moderately dense growth : Cultivated Ground
Similar Species -
Larva: The final instar larva is light brown with broad dark brown dorsal line and a series of fine lighter brown lateral lines dorsally. The subdorsal line is slightly thicker than the other lateral lines and a wide white spiracular line. The head is orangey brown with dark brown stripes vertically,concolorous with dorsal line.
Overwinters as: 1st or 2nd instar larva
Observations: A large butterfly named from the white band that starts on the postdiscal line and traverses through forewing and hindwing. The white band on the blackish forewing is produced with ovoid cell like spots which stack up on each other from costa to dorsum with a small black spot in S6.
The hindwing white band has the spots closer together and have a dentate appearance on the postmedial side. The androconial patch shows as two dark brown patches on the forewing. Hindwing is also wavy on the termen.
The underside is similar but lighter and has more brown streaks and a white patch just before the basal area.
The butterfly needs large habitats and often appear to repeat visits made within these areas most days. The female shown below is at a fence which has a mown lawn one side and rough ground one metre wide on the other and here she is dropping ova against the fence where the grass is rough on both sides.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe - ( Including - Albania,Andorra,Austria,Bosnia H,Bulgaria,Corsica,Croatia,Czech Republic,European Turkey,France,Germany,Greece,Hungary,Italy,Luxembourg,Macedonia,Poland,Portugal,Romania,C & S Russia,Sardinia,Sicily,Slovakia,Slovenia,
Spain,Switzerland,Ukraine, Serbia, Kosovo, Voivodina, Montenegro) : Asia minor : Iran : Turkey : Caucasus : Transcaucasia
UK Distribution: Europe only
European Distribution Status -
- Common and widespread
- Least Concern
- Papilio circe (Fabricius, 1775)
- Papilio circe (Fabricius, 1775)
- Europe
Flight Period Europe: June - September with peak flight July - early August
Habitat: Grassy areas with trees and moderately dense growth : Cultivated Ground
Similar Species -
- None
Larva: The final instar larva is light brown with broad dark brown dorsal line and a series of fine lighter brown lateral lines dorsally. The subdorsal line is slightly thicker than the other lateral lines and a wide white spiracular line. The head is orangey brown with dark brown stripes vertically,concolorous with dorsal line.
Overwinters as: 1st or 2nd instar larva
Observations: A large butterfly named from the white band that starts on the postdiscal line and traverses through forewing and hindwing. The white band on the blackish forewing is produced with ovoid cell like spots which stack up on each other from costa to dorsum with a small black spot in S6.
The hindwing white band has the spots closer together and have a dentate appearance on the postmedial side. The androconial patch shows as two dark brown patches on the forewing. Hindwing is also wavy on the termen.
The underside is similar but lighter and has more brown streaks and a white patch just before the basal area.
The butterfly needs large habitats and often appear to repeat visits made within these areas most days. The female shown below is at a fence which has a mown lawn one side and rough ground one metre wide on the other and here she is dropping ova against the fence where the grass is rough on both sides.
Photo Gallery
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
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.
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
- Anthoxanthum odoratum - Sweet vernal grass
- Arrhenatherum elatius - False oat-grass - Tall meadow oat
- Brachypodium phoenicoides - Thin Leaf False Brome
- Bromus erectus - Upright Brome - Meadow Brome
- Bromus hordeaceus - Soft Brome
- Bromus secalinus - Rye Brome
- Elymus reptans - Couch grass
- Festuca elegans - Elegant Fescue
- Festuca ovina - Sheep's fescue
- Holcus lanatus - Yorkshire-fog
- Lolium perenne - Perennial Ryegrass
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - BRINTESIA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Subspecies: Forms: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Nymphalidae Satyrinae Satyrini BRINTESIA Frühstorfer 1911 Brintesia circe (Fabricius, 1775) - Papilio circe Fabricius, 1775 - PAPILIO circe (Fabricius, 1775) = Papilio proserpina Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 = Minois circe maga Fruhstorfer, 1909 = Minois circe venefica Fruhstorfer, 1909 =Minois circe illecebra Fruhstorfer, 1909 = Hipparchia circe - Systema entomologiae : sistens insectorvm classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibvs, observationibvs / Io. Christ. Fabricii. : Title Page : p.495 - n.226 - circe - Europe - B.c.venusta (Fruhstorfer, 1909) - Caucasus - B.c.f.styx Reiss, 1957 - Breadth of white line varies,missing or rare occasions |