I do not have access to any figures from surveys but I suspect that the meadow brown is the most numerous and possibly most widespread butterfly in Dorset. They lay their eggs on various species of frequently found grasses and so where you find those grasses you will possibly find meadow browns and that is just about everywhere! It is very common on limestone and chalk grassland and we have quite a lot of that in Dorset but the meadow brown can also be found along woodland rides, on coastal dunes, by hedgerows and on road verges (unless they are the ones cut every other week by the Council) and areas of 'wasteland'. They are not that common in gardens though thanks to our lawn mowers and our desire to keep our grass cut short, assuming there is grass in the first place given the current trend to decking and paving.
The database reports show the meadow brown taking flight in week 21 in late May but June produces the most reports. From then on reports are lower in numbers but continue right through until week 43 in late October. My textbooks quote late May to late October as the flying period so it seems Dorset conforms to the national norm.
There are reports from almost a hundred locations across Dorset which does indicate how widespread they are. The most frequent habitat types occurring on those sites are grassland followed by woodland and heath. The distribution map confirms the density of records but there are a few gaps mainly it seems around the agricultural belt south of Cranborne Chase but that may be due to lack of recording rather than lack of meadow browns.
Comments
Post a Comment