Hipparchia fagi

Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia fagi)

2024 photographs highlighted in yellow. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.


45839_female_Var_29Aug18	51475_female_Lozère_12Jul23	35634_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_28Jun14	38373_male_Drôme_10Jul15

41217_male_Isère_11Jul16	51480_male_Lozère_12Jul23	51477_female_Lozère_12Jul23	26368_sex?_Alpes-Maritimes_06Jul11

9669_female?_Var_12Sep07	14413_female?_Var_29Sep08	23363_sex?_Côte-d'Or_28Jul10	46560_sex?_Var_14Jul19

Fagi is difficult to differentiate from its close cousin, the Rock Grayling (H. alcyone). A more detailed appraisal of the differences (at least as they appear to me) is given on the alcyone page.

The alleged difference between the sexes is that the unh post-discal area is "cleaner" for males and more speckled (or irrorated) for females. 51480 and 51477 would appear to fully substantiate this ID clue.

These are a selection of undersides showing the variation in the shape of the discal line and hence the difficulty in making an educated identification guess between fagi and alcyone.

Many of the identification rationales are based on the size of the butterfly when seen at the time, plus the clear (or not) area around the ocellus (when visible).

ref	sex	observations	alt. m
45839	F	a female engaged in courtship - the male can be seen just above the female. I believe that the open wing and upward-curling abdomen indicates rejection.	780
51480	F	a pair engaged in courtship, the female with open wings and the male in close attendance. The abdomen of the female is not raised which I believe signifies receptiveness and this seems to have been confirmed when they flew off together as can be seen in the image 51480 of the male, the female visible to the left. 51477 is the female with closed wings.	990
35634	M	a male, taking salts from the ground near a communal rubbish bin.	1060
38373	M	a male, fairly typical in terms of the black markings touching the top of the ocellus.	1260
41217	M	*a male, the unf "eyebrow" touching the top of the ocellus indicates fagi.*	1120
51480	M	the male from the image 51475, the very clear white unh post-discal area seemingly confirming the ID clue for the sexes. Also see 51477.	990
51477	F	the female from the image 51475, with closed wings. The degree of irroration in the unh post-discal area gives strong credence to the ID clue.	990
26368	?	this does not conform to the little bite theory, but the fact that the area around the unf ocellus is not clear, seems to indicate fagi, plus the fact that it was recorded as large at the time.	1000
9669	?	a strange underside, compared to the norm, with a very grey post-discal band, where it is normally white or pale, and well-contrasted to the grey areas. Maybe this indicates female. The discal line is quite smooth, without the usual sharp angles, and the bite is the roundest I have ever seen.	780
14413	?	less clear, but I feel on balance this is still fagi. Records made at the time indicated it was rather large. Maybe a female on the basis of the heavy-ish irrorations and the lateness of the flight period.	780
23363	?	a fagi from the central département of Côte-d'Or, toward the northern end of the range for fagi, and showing and unusually white and broad post-discal band. It was very large, so no doubt that it was fagi.	320
46560	?	*a typical pose for fagi, heads up on a tree trunk at around 1.5m off the ground.*	450