Hey friends! 

This week I’ve got a two new butterfly photographs to share with you, you’ve probably seen them in your gardens or local parks, small, unassuming little brown and orange butterflies flitting from flower to flower.

These are two of our most abundant butterflies and usually one or the other win the top spot in Save Butterflies summer citizen science experiment the Big Butterfly Count.

These two types of butterfly look more or less identical…

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) is often the most abundant butterfly in many habitats, from gardens to quarries and is even spotted fluttering about even on overcast days, which is unusual as most butterflies are inactive in dull weather. They are a member of the ‘brown’ family and have a wingspan of up to 55mm.

The Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) also known as the Hedge Brown is most likely to be spotted where clumps of flowers grow near gates or along hedges. Gatekeepers are often seen out and about with Ringlets and Meadow Browns and sometimes its quite hard to tell them apart. They are slightly smaller than Meadow Brown with a wingspan of up to 47mm (so theres not a lot in it size wise).

Generally speaking the best way to tell them apart is by counting the white dots on their eye-spots. Meadow Brown only has one white spot whereas Gatekeeper has two, they also have a row of tiny white dots on their underwing.

Its quite sad really both of these types of butterfly are often overlooked because they’re ‘boring’ to look at, but they do just as good a job at pollinating as any other.

I really hope you like this photos and that my butterfly filled posts spread a little bit of happiness. Next week I’m hoping to post some new embroidered butterflies! As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!