Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae
Tribe: Maniolini
Genus: Pyronia
Species: tithonus
Subspecies: britanniae
Key ID Features:
Both sexes have twin pupiled eye-spots on orange upperwings bordered thickly with brown, although the female is slightly less richly coloured.
White spots on the underside of the hindwings is distinctive.
Seen in UK: July-September
The Gatekeeper, also known as the Hedge Brown, is a golden butterfly that provides a welcome sight in the middle of summer, when the fresh adults start to emerge. This butterfly spends much of its time basking with wings open, when the sexes are easy to tell apart - only the male has the distinctive sex brands on the forewings. In England and Wales this common and widespread species is found south of a line between Westmorland in the west and South-east Yorkshire in the east. In Ireland it is confined to coastal areas of the south and south-east counties. The butterfly is also found in the Channel Islands, but is absent from Scotland and the Isle of Man. The habitat this butterfly requires is found over most of the British Isles, and so we can only assume that the restriction to its range is governed primarily by climate. Colonies vary greatly in size, depending on the available habitat, ranging from a few dozen individuals to several thousand.
Text (c) UK Butterflies, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
