Gatekeeper

Gatekeepers, also known as ‘Hedge Browns’ and ‘Hedge Eyes’, live in England, Wales, and southern coastal areas in Ireland. They will drink nectar from many different plants, but they particularly like bramble flowers.

Males have a sex brand across their orange upper wings – it is present in the top photo, and absent in the female pictured below.

These insects rely on woodland and hedges for shelter. Over eight months, they complete their life cycle from egg to imago, emerging as butterflies only in the height of summer.

gatekeeper 6

Sources

ed. Dover, John W, The Ecology of Hedgerows and Field Margins (UK: Routledge, 2019) p 190 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=h8yGDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

‘Gatekeeper’ (UK: Woodland Trust) https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/butterflies/gatekeeper/

‘Pyronia tithonus’ (UK: British Centre for Ornithology) https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw/gardens-wildlife/garden-invertebrates/a-z-invertebrates/gatekeeper