Wall Brown Butterfly

• the wall brown or wall is a medium-sized brown butterfly with large, bright orange patches on the wings
• the males especially have a fast gliding flight and spend time basking on the ground
• females tend to be larger and brighter than the males but are slower moving
• look for the Wall brown butterfly over bare ground, low rocky places and abandoned quarries from late April to mid-June and again from July to September when the adults are flying
• the best opportunity of seeing a wall brown butterfly would be to visit the County Down coast on a warm, still, sunny day during the flight periods
• most of the recent observations are from the coast between Killard Point and Ardglass
• there are other less frequent observations from the area between Newcastle and Kilkeel
• once considered widespread in Northern Ireland with records from all counties, its current distribution appears to be restricted to a small section of the County Down coast
• since 2000, records from the inland sites in County Down have diminished
• join the BCNI and Lecale Conservation on Saturday the 7 August to look for this butterfly
• Meet at Ballyhornan sea front car park at 10:30am