Speckled wood

As its name implies, the speckled wood (Pararge aegeriais) is a woodland species.

Its habitat of choice is the dappled sunlight at the edge of a deciduous wood and it feeds mainly on aphid honeydew in the tree tops but when there are fewer aphids, in the autumn or early in the spring, it will feed on nectar. In the reserve, at this time of year, it will have come down from the trees to feed on our late season ragwort and yarrow.

The caterpillars are bright green and they feed on several species of grass. They pupate after about ten days, the chrysalises suspended beneath grass blades.

Uniquely among British butterflies, speckled woods are able to hibernate as either a caterpillar or a chrysalis. This means that there is an unbroken progression of adult butterflies from early spring; first the over-wintering pupae hatch, then the over-wintering caterpillars pupate and hatch. These spring-time adults mate and produce the summer’s brood, which are the adult butterflies that will later produce the generation that hibernate as either caterpillars or pupae.