The largest of the browns in Ireland, the Grayling has a preference for coastal localities and can often be found alongside the Wall Brown. It is brilliantly camouflaged whilst at rest, seeming to disappear once it has landed among similarly-coloured rocks. In sunny conditions it can be hard to approach making photography rather tricky! In other European areas it can be found more frequently inland, where it is usually the commonest grayling species.
Distribution: Most of Europe but absent from Greece, the southern Balkans, north Fennoscandia and parts of France.
Flight Period: June-September in 1 brood; commonest in July and August in Ireland.
Habitat: Heaths, dunes, dry woodland clearings, rocky areas, rough grassland, dry rocky scrub.
Foodplants: Various grasses, such as Fescues (Festuca) and Marram (Ammophila).
Nectar Sources: Bramble (Rubus), Clover (Trifolium), Heather (Erica).
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- Grayling, Dunfanaghy, Ireland, July 2022
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- Grayling, Palas de Rei, Spain, June 2017
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- Grayling, Paklenica, Croatia, July 2018
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- Graylings mating, Sheskinmore, Ireland, August 2015
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- Grayling, Sheskinmore, Ireland, August 2015
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- European Marram Grass, Ammophila arenaria, a larval foodplant used in coastal areas of Ireland.
