Hertfordshire & Middlesex Branch

Distribution and Status

The Meadow Brown is widely distributed and common in the two counties. It was apparently absent in parts of eastern Middlesex in the 1980s but reports of its occurrence in the Tower Hamlets area, for instance, in the last few years, are good signs. Abundance across the region has suffered a significant decline since the 1980s which may be attributed to pesticide spraying on field margins, for example, or the introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides

Habitat Requirements

Most types of grassland except on the very shortest turf

Larval Foodplants

Cock's-foot Dactylis glomerata, Common Couch Elytrigia repens, Wood Meadow Grass Poa nemoralis. [Smooth Meadow Grass Poa pratensis, Creeping Bent Agrostis stolonifera, Sheep's Fescue Festuca ovina, Red Fescue Festuca rubra]

Adult Food Sources

Buddleia Buddleja davidii, Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense, Common Ragwort Senecio jacobea

Behaviour/Observation notes

Males usually emerge days earlier than females and for both sexes they emerge earlier in warm open situations than on hedgerows and edges of woodland. Where found, they are very conspicuous and easy to photograph. Females can be confused with female Gatekeepers; see differences in the account for the Gatekeeper. Males on the other hand, can look like Ringlets at a distance especially with faded specimens although for experienced observers the floppier flight of the Ringlet is characteristic

Life History

A single generation is produced per year. Numbers peak in the middle of July but the flight season is very long, due to varying rates of larval development in the spring, so quite a few individuals can often be seen in September. It is possible that females aestivate in very hot weather as occurs in southern Europe but there is no clear evidence of this in the UK. Eggs are laid singly or just simply dropped into the vegetation. Larvae feed on the grasses and overwinter until the spring when they pupate low amongst the vegetation suspended on a stem