Superfamily: Papilionoidea Family: Nymphalidae Status: Endemic to Madeira
A dark brown, medium-large butterfly with orange spots which may be confused with its European congener, the Speckled Wood. The main differences are its fore-wings’ outer margin which are slightly convex and mostly brown, a distinctive but small white mark on costa on its marbled brown undersides and the two eye-spots on the upperside hind-wing.
Madeiran Speckled Wood caterpillars are longer bodied than its european congeneric, Speckled wood (Gibbs et al, 2004).
The larva feeds on several Gramineae, including Agrostis gigantea, Brachypodium sylvaticum, Holcus lanatus and Festuca donax (Aguiar & Karsholt, 2006).
Can be seen all year round from sea level up to a thousand meters of altitude though is normally associated with Laurel and Chestnut Forest.
Only occurs in Madeira Island (Aguiar & Karsholt, 2006)
Regional status according to Aguiar & Karsholt, 2008: Endemic to Madeira
Regional status according to Aguiar & Karsholt, 2006: Endemic to Madeira
Regional status according to Wakeham-Dawson et al., 2001: Endemic
Status according to the European Red List of Butterflies, 2010: Endangered
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