(Linnaeus, 1767)
Gatekeeper
Description:
The Gatekeeper occurs on many different types of grassland. Mostly, it chooses rather rough, dry to damp vegetation, situated beside woodland or scrub, or not far from them. The butterflies are fond of basking in the sun on scrub, and are often seen visiting flowers.
The female lays her eggs singly on the leaf-blades of nearly all soft grasses, such as Cock's-foot (Dactylus spp.), fescues (Festuca spp.), bents (Agrostis spp.), and Rye-Grass (Lolium spp.).
The caterpillar avoids bright sunlight, and feeds mostly on grasses growing in the shade. When half-grown, it hibernates in a tussock of grass. It completes its growth the following year, and pupates low down in the vegetation.
The Gatekeeper is single-brooded.
Habitat:
Tree lines and hedges
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Deciduous forests
Similar species:
Pyronia cecilia
Maniola jurtina
Hyponephele lycaon