Top 20 Most Common Insects in Segovia

The meadow brown (Maniola jurtina) is similar to the Gatekeeper in the way that it rests with its wings open due to the "eye spots" on either end of its wings that ward off predators. While the color is a deep brown, the caterpillar form is a beautiful bright green with little, white hairs and a dark line leading down its back.

Male above red-golden, with a narrow black margin, at the proximal side of which there are dark dots on the hindwing: female cinnabar-red, spotted with black, the hindwing partly dusted with black. Underside leather-yellow, more sparsely spotted with black, before the outer third of the hind- wing pale dots, which are occasionally united in a white chain. The anal area dusted with red. The species occurs from the Atlantic coasts throughout Europe to East- Siberia and from the coast of the North Sea to the Mediterranean, but is absent from Great Britain and Japan. — In Lapland flies a small form, oranula Frr. (76 b), which is otherwise very similar to the name-typical form. — estonica Huene (76 b), from the Baltic provinces and eastern Russia, exactly resembles the preceding in size and shape, but has a broader black margin. — virgaureola Stgr. (76 b) is in size like virgaureae, but the upperside of the male is as in estonica; beneath the more reddish disc of the forewing contrasts with the more yellow hindwing and the white discal stripe of the latter is absent or reduced; from northern Central Asia, Dauria, Mongolia, and as similar aberration in the Swiss Alps. — males from the Apennines, in which the upperside is deeper red-golden and the base of the hindwing more densely dusted with dark, are apennina Calb. The females the contrary have the ground-colour paler and are less dusted with dark than many Central European specimens, the underside being hghter. According to Fallou the males from the Pyrenees are also deeper red. - On the other hand, the specimens from Mersina and the neighbouring Taurus Mts. have a bright light golden-red upperside in both sexes, the black margin being narrowed in the male. This is aureomicans Heyne. — Specimens with the underside of the hindwing strongly dusted with grey, the upperside of the female more-over having a brown-grey tint on account of the dark dusting on the golden ground, occur in many alpine districts with the ordinary form, being especially plentiful and well marked in the Alps of Valais; all such individuals are united as ab. zermattensis Fall. (76 a). It is hardly possible to decide from Fallou's very long description of this form which are the real characteristics of his aberration, so that strictly speaking not all the specimens standing in collections under this name belong here, particularly not all the specimens from the Valais; in fact only those individuals are true ab. zermattensis which, like phlaeas caeruleopunctata, have a chain of white dots before the outer third of the hindwing, as shown in the figure given in Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. vol. V. pl. 2. Besides the modification of the colour of the upperside into sepia-brown, both sexes differ on the underside in the forewing bearing a broad dark margin and the hindwing being washed with fuscous, ab. seriata Fruhst. are zermattensis females which have a discal row of white dots on the hindwing proximally to the row of black spots, ab. fredegunda Fruhst. bears, besides those dots, a row of submarginal spots on the forewing beneath. [more vars described]The egg is semiglobular, grey-green, with a network of polygons, laid singly or several together on the stalk of the foot-plant. Larva green with a yellow stripe on back and at the sides, brownish head and brownish legs; at first glassy, transparent, later yellow on the back. Emerges in April and feeds until June on Rumex and Solidago. Pupa rounded, smooth, similar to a small bean, brownish, with dark markings; on the thorax a dark dorsal longitudinal stripe, which is continued on the abdomen by a row of impressed dots. The butterflies are on the wing from the end of June into August on meadows, clearings in woods, mountain-sides and flowery slopes; they are abundant almost everywhere in the area aru:! ascend in the high mountains above 10,000 ft.

Despite its common name, only male specimens of common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) can accurately be described as blue; the females are predominately gray-brown, with only a dusting of blue and a scattering of orange spots. The adults live for only three weeks before dying.

In south east France it can be confused with the southern festoon (Zerynthia polyxena). The two can be told apart by the presence of blue on the hindwing of the southern festoon. The spanish festoon also has extensive red on the forewings.

The coloring of the males and the females is very different, i.e. the sexual dimorphism is very strong. The top sides of the wings are red-gold with black spots. The males fluoresce purple, while the females' top side is brown, also with black spots. The rear wings have submarginal spots.

Small and colorful, small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) is the national butterfly of Denmark. However, it is capable of surviving anywhere the common nettle leaf may be found, which the larvae of this species depend on. Once among the most common butterflies in Europe and temperate Asia, this species is experiencing rapid declines for reasons still being investigated.

Contrary to what you may believe of its name, the gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) is a butterfly, not a heavily armored guard standing at an iron fence. The gatekeeper seems to have its own gate based on weather, as it cannot survive well in colder climates. It also survives through the two eyespots on the end of each of their wings, protecting them against bird attacks.

The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.

Brintesia circe reaches on average wingspan of 65–80 millimetres (2.6–3.1 in). Its wings are mainly black or dark brown. They have a broad white band at the edge of the basal area of all wings and usually a second white streak on the lower wings. The black eyespots on the underside of the upper wings have a white contour. Brintesia circe is quite similar to Hipparchia fagi, but in the latter the second white streak on the lower wings is always missing and the eyespots have a yellow contour. These butterflies usually rest on the branches of a tree, protected by their cryptic markings, but ready to take off and fly away when disturbed.

The bath white is a small white butterfly with a wingspan of 45 to 50 mm. The underside of the hindwing has a pattern of greenish blotches, which is characteristic of the Bath whites and easily identifies it fromThe Bath white is a small white butterfly with a wingspan of 4.5 - 5 cm. The underside of the hindwing has a pattern of greenish blotches, which is characteristic of the Bath whites and easily identifies it from other pierids. Sexes can be differentiated by markings on the forewing. The male is differentiated from the female by the markings on the upperside of the forewing. The apex of the forewing is black with white spots and lines. There is a black spot at the end of the cell. In the case of the female, there is an additional discal spot in 1b. The female also has an obscure row of terminal and marginal spots on the upper hindwing. Male: Upperside: white. Forewing: basal half of costa narrowly irrorated with black scales, a broad irregular quadrate black spot over the discocellulars; apex and termen anteriorly, above vein 3 broadly black, with a subterminal series of spots of the ground colour, prolonged as fine lines to the terminal margin. Hindwing: uniform, the markings on the underside showing faintly through; a costal spot before the apex, and in some specimens, some obscure, anterior terminal markings indicated by irrorated black scaling. Underside: white. Forewing: the form of the markings as on the upperside but the base of the cell with an irroration of green scales, the black discocellular spot extended to the costa, often washed with green or with a green centre to the black; the apical patch green not black, with the spots of the ground colour on it ill-defined and obscure; a black or greenish-black spot in the outer half of interspace 1. Hindwing: green; costal margin at base yellow; dorsal margin white; a spot in middle of cell, another above it in interspace 7, a curved irregular discal series of conjoined spots beyond the cell, of which the upper two spots in interspaces 1 to 6, white; the veins sometimes faintly yellow. Antennae dusky-black; head, thorax and abdomen fuscous black; beneath; head, thorax and abdomen white. Female: Upperside: differs as follows: Forewing: a dusky-black streak extends from the base along costa and terminates at the black spot on the discocellulars; a transverse, somewhat quadrate black spot in the outer half of interspace 1, with sometimes a short ill-defined black streak below it; the black area on apex and anterior portion of termen broader, the white spots on it blurred and obscure. Hindwing: a large costal black spot before apex; a broad, black, subterminal, inwardly diffuse, curved band in continuation of the same, and a terminal series of clavate black marks that start from the outer margin of the black subterminal band. Underside: markings much as in the male but broader. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. Wingspan: 5 - 6 cm