Speckled Wood (<i>Pararge aegeria</i>)

The Speckled Wood is a typical woodland butterfly. The woods may be deciduous, coniferous or mixed, and the butterfly occurs along woodland rides, in clearings and at wood edges. In the north, it occurs mostly in quite extensive areas of woodland, but in the south a line of trees can be sufficient to support a population. Each male claims his territory on a branch that gets the sun, projecting out of the crown of the tree, and waits there for a female to fly along. The foodplants are grasses that grow in woodland and damp grassland, such as fescues (Festuca spp.), false-bromes (Brachypodium spp.), meadow-grasses (Poa spp.), cock’s-foot (Dactylus spp.), Purple Moor-grass (Molinea caerulea) and Holcus spp. The female deposits her eggs singly on the blades of grass. Hibernation takes place as a caterpillar or pupa, deep down in a tussock of grass. The Speckled Wood has two to three generations a year.

Family	Nymphalidae
Subfamily	Satyrinae
Genus	Pararge
Species	aegeria
Authority	(Linnaeus, 1758)
English Name	Speckled Wood

European Red List 2010	Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2010	Least Concern (LC)
European Red List 2025	Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2025	Least Concern (LC)
Habitats Directive
Bern Convention
CITES

#	Order	Family	Genus	Species	Vernacular Name
1	Poales	Cyperaceae	Carex	sylvatica	Wood-sedge
2	Poales	Poaceae	Agrostis	canina	Velvet Bent
3	Poales	Poaceae	Agrostis	capillaris	Common Bent
4	Poales	Poaceae	Agrostis	gigantea	Black Bent
5	Poales	Poaceae	Agrostis	stolonifera	Creeping Bent
6	Poales	Poaceae	Arrhenatherum	elatius	False Oat-grass
7	Poales	Poaceae	Avena	sterilis	Winter Wild-oat
8	Poales	Poaceae	Brachypodium		False-bromes
9	Poales	Poaceae	Brachypodium	pinnatum	Heath False-brome
10	Poales	Poaceae	Brachypodium	sylvaticum	False-brome
11	Poales	Poaceae	Bromus		Bromes
12	Poales	Poaceae	Bromus	racemosus	Smooth Brome
13	Poales	Poaceae	Bromus	ramosus
14	Poales	Poaceae	Calamagrostis	arundinacea
15	Poales	Poaceae	Calamagrostis	epigejos	Wood Small-reed
16	Poales	Poaceae	Dactylis		Cock's-foots
17	Poales	Poaceae	Dactylis	glomerata	Cock's-foot
18	Poales	Poaceae	Dactylis	glomerata ssp. lobata
19	Poales	Poaceae	Deschampsia	cespitosa	Tufted Hair-grass
20	Poales	Poaceae	Elymus	caninus	Bearded Couch
21	Poales	Poaceae	Elymus	repens	Common Couch
22	Poales	Poaceae	Festuca	ovina	Sheep's-fescue
23	Poales	Poaceae	Festuca	rubra	Red Fescue
24	Poales	Poaceae	Glyceria	notata	Plicate Sweet-grass
25	Poales	Poaceae	Holcus	lanatus	Yorkshire-fog
26	Poales	Poaceae	Holcus	mollis	Creeping Soft-grass
27	Poales	Poaceae	Hordeum		Barleys
28	Poales	Poaceae	Lolium	giganteum
29	Poales	Poaceae	Lolium	perenne	Perennial Rye-grass
30	Poales	Poaceae	Lolium	pratense
31	Poales	Poaceae	Molinia	arundinacea
32	Poales	Poaceae	Molinia	caerulea	Purple Moor-grass
33	Poales	Poaceae	Oloptum	miliaceum	Smilo-grass
34	Poales	Poaceae	Phleum	pratense	Timothy
35	Poales	Poaceae	Poa		Meadow-Grasses
36	Poales	Poaceae	Poa	annua	Annual Meadow-grass
37	Poales	Poaceae	Poa	bulbosa	Bulbous Meadow-grass
38	Poales	Poaceae	Poa	nemoralis	Wood Meadow-grass
39	Poales	Poaceae	Poa	pratensis	Smooth Meadow-grass
40	Poales	Poaceae	Poa	trivialis	Rough Meadow-grass

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Description

Distribution

Larval Foodplants