59.003 .... B&F 1614
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria (Linnaeus, 1758) 
Status .....Although now one of our most common butterflies, the Speckled Wood was far from achieving that county status as recently as the early the 1980's. It's north-easterly range expansion through the county continued throughout the 1990's and during the opening decade of the present century and it is now widespread in western areas of Nottinghamshire. It's success has almost certainly been influenced by recent climatic changes, probably due to the mild Winters we now experience. Despite traditionally being a woodland species, the Speckled Wood has found its own niche in our parks and gardens and is now very much a butterfly of suburban locations. It can be expected to occur in many mature gardens throughout the course of a year and has effectively replaced the Wall Brown at many sites, particularly those in suburban areas.
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Photographed at Red Hill, Eakring August 2023
 
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Photographed at Eakring Meadows April 2003
 
 
Early stages                            
Ova/egg. Photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter June 2022.
 
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1st instar larva. Photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter June 2022.
 
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3rd instar larva. Photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter June 2022.
 
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Final instar larva. Photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter July 2022.
 
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Pupa. Photographed at Clipstone Old Quarter July 2022.
 
 
Nottinghamshire (VC56) distribution of Speckled Wood
 
 
 
 
The records for the Nottinghamshire distribution map are currently provided by the following contributors - Richard Rogers. Trevor and Dilys Pendleton. Meg Skinner. Sherwood Forest Trust (2008 Oak Tree Heath invertebrate survey). Netherfield Wildlife Group. Pauline Bradford. Wil Heeney. Nottingham City Council. Darren Matthews. Duncan Lyon. Peter Kirby (Bentinck Tip & Void Invertebrate survey 2007). Stuart Warrington. The National Trust (Clumber Park invertebrate records). Lound Moth Group. NBGRC. Meg Skinner. Peter Acton. Damian Taylor. Barry Lygo. Chris Richards. Graham Birkett. Peter Kirby (Ploughman Wood Invertebrate survey 1998 on behalf of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust). Julie Lockett. David Shaw. Tom Shields. Brian Wetton. Nick and Samantha Brownley. Jim Flanagan.

You can contribute your own records to help us gain an accurate status of this species in Nottinghamshire. Send an Excel spreadsheet of your records via the 'contact us' link at the top of the homepage.

Updated January 2024

copyright © Trevor and Dilys Pendleton (www.eakringbirds.com) . .
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