Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) in Ireland

Donnóg an fhéir in Gaeilge. The Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina, is Ireland’s commonest grassland butterfly, recorded in every county and often the first species a summer walker sees rise from a verge.

Identify it in four steps

1. Females larger and more strongly marked than males; forewing orange patch encloses one small black eyespot with a single white pupil.
2. Males smaller, dark chocolate-brown upperside with a reduced orange patch and a diffuse scent-scale mark across the forewing.
3. Underside hindwing pale grey-brown with a curved band and no clear ring of eyespots; separates it from Ringlet at rest.
4. Wingspan 50 to 55 mm; flight is a low, weaving skim across grass, rarely more than a metre above the sward.

Habitat in Ireland

The Meadow Brown occupies almost every unimproved and semi-improved grassland type in Ireland: hay meadows, road verges, coastal machair, damp rushy fields, and rough pasture. It tolerates a broader range of grass structure than any other Irish brown, from short cliff-top swards to knee-high verges.

Larvae feed on a wide list of native grasses, including Smooth Meadow-grass (Poa pratensis), Cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata), and Red Fescue (Festuca rubra). The species declines quickly where verges are cut in July or where grassland is reseeded to Ryegrass monoculture.

Where to see it

• the Burren, County Clare: limestone grassland and green roads hold high densities from mid-June onward.
• Bull Island, Dublin: the dune grassland and machair edges produce reliable July counts.
• Sheskinmore Nature Reserve, County Donegal: wet machair and dune slack grade into rough pasture ideal for the species.

Related species

• Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus)
• Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
• Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus)