Lasiommata megera

Lasiommata megera, the wall[1] or wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae (subfamily Satyrinae). It is widespread in the Palearctic realm with a large variety of habitats and number of generations a year.

Wall brown
Male
Sorrento Peninsula, Italy
Male
Pewsey Downs, Wiltshire, UK
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Lasiommata
Species:
L. megera
Binomial name
Lasiommata megera
female
Chemnitz, Germany
Female
Scratchbury and Cotley Hills SSSI, Wiltshire

Description

P. megera L. [— xiphie Boisd. pt (45d). Above reddish yellow, with a black mark which traverses the distal band from the cell of the forewing to the abdominal margin of the hindwing, short black stripes crossing the disc and the cell of the forewing.[2]

Range

The species lives in North Africa, Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Middle East, western Siberia, northern Tian Shan, Dzungarian Alatau, Kazakhstan and Dzungaria.

Habitats

Habitats include forest edges and clearings, shrubby areas in ravines and river valleys and sparse woodlands. It is also found in mountain habitats up to 0–3,000 metres (0–9,843 ft) above sea level.

Egg, larva and pupa

Life history

The imago flies from April to October in two or three generations depending on locality and altitude. The larva feeds on grasses in the genera Festuca, Bromus, Deschampsia, Poa, Dactylis and Brachypodium.

"The egg is pale green when first laid, and in shape it is almost spherical, but rather higher than broad; it is finely ribbed and reticulated, but unless examined through a lens it appears to be quite smooth. The caterpillar when full grown is whitish-green, dotted with white. From the larger of these dots on the back arise greyish bristles; the three lines on the back (dorsal and sub-dorsal) are whitish, edged with dark green; the line on the sides (spiracular) is white, fringed with greyish hairs; anal points green, hairy, extreme tips white. Head larger than the first ring (first thoracic segment), green dotted with white and hairy, jaws marked with brownish. The chrysalis is green, with yellow-tinted white markings on the edge of the wing covers and ridges; the spots on the body are yellowish, or sometimes white. Occasionally the chrysalids are blackish, with white or yellow points on the body". (South 1906)

Subspecies
  • L. m. megera
  • L. m. vividissima
  • L. m. megerina (Herrich-Schäffer, 1856) - Transcaucasia
  • L. m. transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901) - Turkmenia

Size

Size: 36–50 millimetres (1.4–2.0 in)

References
  1. Wall at UK Butterflies
  2. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.


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