Browns

Marbled White (Melanargia galathea)

Warburg NR, Buckinghamshire

Martin Down NNR, Dorset

underside view, Bernwood Forest, Oxfordshire

The least brown of the 'browns' in Britain, the Marbled White is a large, graceful species of meadow habitats in southern England. Like many other invertebrates, it is steadily expanding its range northwards as the climate warms and can now be found in many areas of the Midlands where it was formerly absent.

Bernwood Meadows NR, Oxfordshire

Broadcroft Quarry BC Reserve, Dorset

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria spp.tircis)

Powerstock Common NR, Dorset

Coombs Dale SSSI, Derbsyhire

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underside, Rose End Meadows NR, Derbyshire

Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)

Matlock, Derbyshire

Portland Bill, Dorset

Arne RSPB Reserve, Dorset

I'm lucky enough to have this much-declined butterfly as an infrequent visitor to my garden in Derbyshire, where the Peak District remains one its English strongholds. It is a butterfly of rough grassland and prefers warm sites with some bare rock where it can bask and lay its eggs next to.

Two generations emerge each year - one in late spring and another in the summer.

Grayling (Hipparchia semele)

Surely one of Britain's most expertly-camouflaged butterflies, the Grayling inhabits sandy, heathy habitats where its underwings help it blend in perfectly with its surroundings. As the first photo shows, they will even bend over to keep their underwings in-line with the ground.

Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)

Coombs Dale, Derbyshire

Avenue Washlands NR, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Text coming soon!

Broadcroft Quarry BC Reserve, Dorset

Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)

Powerstock Common NR, Dorset

Martin Down NNR, Dorset

Coombs Dale, Derbyshire

caterpillar, Cressbrook Dale NNR, Derbyshire

The most widespread and common of Britain's 'browns', the Meadow Brown is a common sight from mid-summer onwards in almost any grassy habitat. The largely unmarked upperwings with a solitary black eye-spot ringed with orange are distinctive.

Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)

Wye Downs NNR, Kent

Craig Leek SSSI, Cairngorms

This small woodland butterfly has made a marked expansion in its range northwards in recent years and is now a common sight in my home of Derbyshire - twenty years ago it was a butterfly I had to travel to southern England to reliably see.

The multitude of eye spots on the underwings (which are also visible on the upperwings to a lesser extent) make it easy to recognise.

Mountain Ringlet (Erebia epiphron)

Ben Lawers NNR, Perthshire

The rarest and most threatened of Britan's 'browns', the Mountain Ringlet is our only representative of the Erebia butterflies which are extremely diverse and widespread in the European Alps. There, the Mountain Ringlet is widespread and common - something we can't claim on our shores.

As a butterfly of high mountains, it is threated by climate change in Britain, where it occupies very scattered sites with just the right microclimate and altitude.

The Mountain Ringlet is an enigmatic species and not easy to spot, given its refusal to fly in anything but sunny weather. It is not uncommon at its sites, but being there on a given day with the right weather is something of a lottery!