Large Wall Brown
Lasiommata maera (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status
Description
A medium sized orange-brown butterfly. The upperside is brown with an orangey band on the hindwing with black spots, white pupiled. The forewing has a large black spot, white pupiled near the wing tip and a broad orangey submarginal band crossed with brown lines. The forewing underside has the large black spot, white pupiled, and is orangey-yellow with a brown margin.
A unique character of the species is that the post-median brown line on the forewing underside is unbroken. The hindwing is greyish-brown with a series of fine brown wavy lines, and a set yellow submarginal spots, with a brown border and a black central spot, white pupiled. It can be confused with Kirinia roxelana, which is larger, and has a small black spot, without a white centre on the forewing. It is however, most similar to L. megera, which is usually slightly smaller, and has an additional orange band (postdiscal) on the hindwing upperside.
Habitat Requirements
Meadows, maquis, wooded areas and the coast.
Larval Foodplants
Wood Small-reed Calamagrostis epigejos, Cock's-foot Dactylis glomerata subsp. Hispanica, Floating Sweet Grass Glyceria fluitans, Sea Barley Hordeum marinum.
Observations
Unlike its sympatric sybling species (Wall Brown Lasiommata megera) this species is frequently found in samll groups of individuals where courtship, resembling that undertaken by Graylings can be observed.
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Large Wall Brown submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
First and Last Sightings
| Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 30/03/2023 | 21/06/2023 | 83 days |
| 2022 | 09/04/2022 | 26/10/2022 | 200 days |
| 2021 | 03/04/2021 | 19/10/2021 | 199 days |
Number of Observations
| Year | Number of observations |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 25 |
| 2022 | 36 |
| 2021 | 47 |
| Grand Total | 108 |
Distribution Map
Distribution maps for this species are currently unavailable.Flight Times for the Large Wall Brown (2023)
The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023 submitted online since 1st January 2023 to 22nd September 2023.
Flight Times for the Large Wall Brown (All Data)
The chart below shows flight data by month based on all data submitted online since 1st January 2019 to 22nd September 2023.
Taxonomy
- Vernacular/Common Name: Large Wall Brown
- Family: Nymphalidae (Rafinesque, 1815)
- Sub-family: Satyrinae (Boisduval, 1833)
- Tribe: Satyrini (Boisduval, 1833)
- Sub-tribe: Parargina (Tutt, 1896)
- Genus: Lasiommata (Westwood, 1841)
- Species: maera (Linnaeus, 1758)
References
For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.
