The brown butterflies – how to identify

Now July is here along with the sunshine our meadows are full of brown butterflies. Initially they can all look the same but with a bit of practice you can tell them apart. Here is how to.

This is the meadow brown – note one white spot in the black disc.

The underside – again one white spot

This is the gatekeeper (or hedge brown) – note 2 white spots

The underside – more brightly coloured than the meadow brown and 2 spots

And this is the ringlet – a series of black spots on the back end of both sets of wings

The underside is very similar

So I recommend you get outside and see if you can spot all three species – the meadows at Parke and the orchard at Lydford Gorge are good places to start – as is your garden.