Wall Butterfly

Lasiommata Megera

Family Browns 

• Colouring – Light brown, black streaks, small dots on upper wings looking like eyes.
• Life span – July through to September.
• Native – British butterfly, and is seen in many countries.
• Caterpillar colour – Bright green.
• Eggs to caterpillar – 17 – 20 days.
• Food for the caterpillar – Common grass, cocks-foot, tor-grass, Yorkshire fog.
• Food for the butterfly – Flowers, common flea bane, daisy, thistles, knapweed.

Special features

Likes to bask on walls (hence the name). Their brown underwings provide good camouflage when resting on a sandy surface. This butterfly has a characteristic behaviour of resting with two-thirds of their wings open on a bare surface in order to raise its body temperature before taking flight.