(Zeller, 1847)
Description:
This meadow brown is a butterfly of open woodland, found in oak woods, mixed woods, and coniferous forests, and also in open scrub. Further, it is seen in olive groves, vineyards and occasionally villages. The butterflies mostly fly in the shadow of trees and bushes, keeping close to the ground. In contrast with the Meadow Brown (M. jurtina), this butterfly is hardly ever found on open, flower-rich grasslands. Butterflies are present from the spring until the autumn, but during the hot, dry summer months, they are inactive, hiding in trees or bushes, or on tree trunks.
Although the females mate a few days after emerging from the chrysalis, they do not lay their eggs in the summer. The eggs mature during the period of inactivity in the summer and are deposited during the following autumn on several species of grasses.
This meadow brown is single-brooded.
Habitat:
Dry calcareous grasslands
Sclerophyllous scrub
Similar species:
Maniola jurtina
Maniola halicarnassus
Maniola cypricola