Pararge aegeria

• Subfamily:: Satyrinae - Elymniini
• Wingspan: 35-45 mm
• Flight period: mar - set
• Spread: Comune
• Host plants: Poaceae

Information

The Pararge aegeria also known as Speckled Wood is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family, subfamily Satyrinae, of medium size, with wingspan of 35 - 45 mm.
It is distributed throughout Europe, in Italy it is also present in the islands. *

The Pararge aegeria has the upper page of the wings with a dark brown background color and with numerous dark orange designs placed in a checkerboard pattern and with fawn or white spots. In particular, the upper page of the front wings has a small black-brown ocello with a white central spot in the apical area, the hind wings also have 3 pupillated ocelli located in the post-discal region. The lower page of the front wings reproduces the same pattern as the upper page, including the ocello. The lower page of the rear wing, on the other hand, is of an orange-fawn color with light-dark shades, and white spots in relation to the position of the pupils of the upper page. **

The Pararge aegeria is a common species, particularly linked to shady or humid environments, such as meadows overlooking lake basins; bivoltine, has the first generation flickers between March and June, those of the second generation between August and September, both generations vary according to the latitude. It overwinters in the larva or pupa stages.
Fast-flying, it often remains in the penumbra, frequently landing on the ground, on rocks and on foliage.
The caterpillar is yellowish-green with a dark-green mid-dorsal band and two white anal appendages.

Host plants are Poaceae of various kinds such as Agropyron, Dactylis, Poa, Triticum etc. .


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/