Grayling (Hipparchia semele) in Ireland

Léithneach in Gaeilge. The Grayling, Hipparchia semele, is Ireland’s most cryptically camouflaged butterfly, resting motionless on stone or bare ground with wings closed and leant into the sun.

Identify it in four steps

1. Upperside rarely seen: dark grey-brown with a paler band and two small eyespots on the forewing.
2. Underside forewing carries two black eyespots on an orange-buff ground; the butterfly tucks the forewing between the hindwings at rest, showing only the intricately marbled grey hindwing.
3. At rest on rock or bare earth the closed wings match the substrate so closely that the butterfly usually vanishes until it flies again.
4. Wingspan 54 to 62 mm; flight is a fast, angular glide close to bare ground, often settling within a few metres of the previous perch.

Habitat in Ireland

The Grayling in Ireland is a specialist of coastal cliff, dune, rocky headland, and thin acidic soils with abundant bare ground. It occupies south- and west-facing slopes that hold heat and provide the exposed stone or sand it needs for thermoregulation.

Larvae feed on fine grasses including Sheep’s-fescue (Festuca ovina) and Bristle Bent (Agrostis curtisii). The species has undergone one of the steepest declines of any Irish butterfly, with inland populations largely lost since the mid-twentieth century.

Where to see it

• Howth Head, County Dublin: coastal cliff and dry heath with bare rocky ground supports one of the best-monitored populations.
• Malin Head, County Donegal: exposed headland grassland and rocky slopes hold northern populations.
• the Burren coast, County Clare: limestone pavement and cliff-top grassland near Doolin.

Related species

• Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
• Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)
• Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)