Meadow Brown

Scientific Name - Maniola jurtina

Flight Period - May to September

Overwinters as - Larva

Habitat - Gardens, Parks, Grasslands, Woodlands

Larval foodplants - Grasses including Bents, Calamagrostis, Cock’s-foot, False Brome, Fescues etc.

Conservation status - Low Priority

Northamptonshire distribution - Widespread

Best public sites to see them - Anywhere with suitable habitat

The Meadow Brown is a very common and widespread butterfly in Northamptonshire and can be seen in good numbers almost anywhere. They emerge in May and by the summer can often be counted in their hundreds at some sites. This butterfly spends a lot of its time in the undergrowth, but it will readily come to nectar. The underwings of the Meadow Brown can sometimes be confused with the Gatekeeper, but they can be told apart as the underwings of the Meadow Brown aren’t so distinctly marked at the Gatekeeper and it lacks the row of white dots running down the hindwing. For more details on how to identify the commoner Browns please click here.

Meadow Brown Distribution 2018 - 2022

Female Meadow Brown Upperwing

Meadow Brown Underwing

Male Meadow Brown Upperwing