Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria tircis)

Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria tircis)

Description

Title:
Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge aegeria tircis)
Caption / Description:

The Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) is a butterfly found in and on the borders of woodland throughout much of Europe. In Northern and Eastern Europe where subspecies P. a. tircis occurs it is brown with pale yellow or cream spots and darker upperwing eyespots. In southwestern Europe the subspecies P. a. aegeria has a colour which is more orange in the background; the hindwing underside eyespots are reddish brown rather than black or dark gray. The two forms gradually intergrade into each other. The speckled wood also occurs in North Africa and on the Atlantic island of Madeira. Molecular studies suggest that the African and Madeiran populations are closely related and distinct from European populations of both subspecies, suggesting that Madeira was colonized from Africa and that the African population has a long history of isolation from European populations.

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. For finding females, there exist 2 basic strategies: Some males will vigorously defend a perch and the immediate surroundings, waiting for females to pass by. Others will patrol a larger territory.

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: perching behavior is more common in males of conifer woodland, whereas males of meadows tend towards patrolling behavior.

Description from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speckled_wood

Tags / Keywords:
  • Biota
  • Life
  • Vitae
  • Eukaryota
  • Animalia
  • Animals
  • Arthropoda
  • Arthropods
  • Insecta
  • Insects
  • Lepidoptera
  • Moths
  • Pararge aegeria tircis
  • Butterflies
  • Skippers
  • Nymphalidae
  • Brush-footed butterflies
  • Four-footed butterflies
  • Pararge
  • Pararge aegeria
  • Speckled Wood

Admin

Date Original Photo Taken:
Original File Name:
Event:
Rating:
Date this image added/last updated on website:
Original File Dimensions:
4272px x 2848px
File Type:
JPEG
Color Mode:
RGB
Original Image Color Profile:
Adobe RGB (1998)

Location

Location Created:
Sublocation:
City:
Market Harborough
Province/State:
Leicestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
World Region:
Europe
Geo-location:
52.474406574186, -0.94371328386944 View on map

Rights

Copyright Status:
Copyrighted
Licensing Status:
Rights Managed
Available for Editorial Use:
Yes
Available for Commercial Use:
Yes
Copyright Notice:
© 2010 Dave Kennard

Camera Data

Date Digital Resource was created:
Shutter speed:
1200 s
Aperture:
f/5.6
Camera Model:
Canon EOS 450D
ISO:
100
Exposure Compensation:
0
Focal Length:
100mm
Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
Metering Mode:
Multi-segment
Flash:
On, Fired
Exposure Mode:
Manual
White Balance:
Manual
Light Source:
Exposure Program:
Manual

Additional shooting metadata

Lens:
Canon EF 100mm F2.8 Macro USM
Filters used:
Additional Optics used:
Setup:
Handheld
MT-24EX Macro Twin flash with home-made diffusers

Post Processing

Image Modified:
Software used:
  • Adobe Camera RAW
Post Processing: