Butterfly summer – arran brown
Photos: Arne Ader
Translation: SilverT
Arran brown
Arran brown Harilik tõmmusilmik Erebia ligea
Meadow brown Kesasilmik Maniola jurtina
The upper wings of arran brown have a brownish blush and are „decorated“ with a belt which is adorned with orange speckles. One should note that sometimes the speckles might not appear at all. The lower side of the wings has a dotted white stripe. Arran brown can be encountered on forest clearings or forest verges, moister meadows, but also on roadsides. Caterpillars feed on all sorts of grass and have very long development cycles, which means arran browns are scarce in even-numbered years. Let`s keep in mind that we are currently in year 2013.
One may also encounter other browns in Estonia; they are generally rather similar, however, distinguishable only once they allow to observe themselves and you carry a butterfly field guide. At first, we usually come across the northern wall brown. In July, we may see the really common meadow brown, in places the dusky meadow brown and woodland brown until the end of August when some specimens with already „fraying“ wings still fly around.
Meadow brown
It is probably the easiest to start identifying browns from meadow browns.
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