Speckled Wood Butterfly Pararge aegeria

The Speckled Wood butterfly likes sunny clearings in shady woodland and aphid honeydew rather than flower nectar.

All the above photographed around NW London: considerable variation in the pale spots' size and colour (white, cream, very pale yellow, pale pinky-yellow) and in the size and "openness" of the black spots. Females have brighter and sharper markings than males.

The Speckled Wood underside.

The butterfly is native to most of Europe, western and Central Asia and North Africa.