Meadow Brown Butterfly
Donnóg fhéir
| Irish name: | Donnóg fhéir |
| See it in: | June |
| Biodiversity Ireland Species Profile: | Meadow Brown Butterfly |
Image of Meadow brown taken today (June 29th 2023) on a bramble blossom on the Ardclough side of Castlewarden cross roads.
The female lays eggs on meadow grasses such as Cock’s foot and Scutch. The caterpillars feed on the leaves. In winter, they become dormant but resume feeding in March during the night. They pupate in June. There are 8 species of brown coloured butterflies in Ireland. They all use tall grasses as their larval foodplants. We should all leave a proportion of our lawns uncut to facilitate the breeding of these butterflies.