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Gatekeeper or meadow brown?

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:06 pm
by eviejean22
Hi everyone, I was sure this was a meadow brown while photographing it (I know the photos aren't ideal for identification - I nearly fell into the bush trying to get them!), but then I started to wonder afterwards if it was a gatekeeper as lots of sources online say that gatekeeper butterflies have two white 'pupils' on the eyespot, like this one does. Thanks guys!

https://imgur.com/a/YHuyEAI

Sorry if there's a better way to add photos, I'm new to this forum!

Re: Gatekeeper or meadow brown?

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:24 pm
by David M
Eviejean, that's a female Meadow Brown, albeit with much greater orange suffusion on the forewings than normal.

Re: Gatekeeper or meadow brown?

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:32 pm
by Padfield
Most meadow browns have just one pupil in the eyespot but females in particular occasionally have two. It's not the norm, but not that infrequent either.

Normal male, with one:

Image

Female with two:

Image

Guy

Re: Gatekeeper or meadow brown?

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 11:58 am
by eviejean22
David M wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:24 pm Eviejean, that's a female Meadow Brown, albeit with much greater orange suffusion on the forewings than normal.
Great, thank you! It was my initial thought for sure, I just got confused when I read about them and Gatekeepers online. Thank you for clarifying!

Re: Gatekeeper or meadow brown?

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 11:58 am
by eviejean22
Padfield wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:32 pm Most meadow browns have just one pupil in the eyespot but females in particular occasionally have two. It's not the norm, but not that infrequent either.

Normal male, with one:

Image

Female with two:

Image

Guy
Ahh thank you for clearing that up! Brilliant