Differences between males and females?

[NickMorgan]

Having seen speckled woods at John Muir Country Park I am now a little confused about how to tell the difference between males and females. I seem to have pictures of thee individuals and pictures of two of them mating. I have read that females have larger light patches on the wings and I have read that females have four spots on the hind wing.
This one I am presuming is a female because of the shape of the abdomen. It also has four spots on the hind wings:

This one I assume is a male:

And I think this one is another male:

I am surprised that there is so much variation in the shapes of the markings on these butterflies as I imagine they are pretty closely related, being a newly very small discovered small colony.

Here is the mating couple and I assume from their behaviour that the male is the one below as he landed after the other one and approached her.

Here are a couple of pictures from last year of probably a grand parent and parent.
I'm guessing at male for this one taken last May:

And this one was taken last June. I'm guessing female because of the four spots, but it has smaller light markings:

I would appreciate some help from the knowledgeable folk on here.

[Gibster]

Well, regardless of differences in markings between the sexes, some males have 3 eye spots on each hindwing whilst others have 4 eye spots. In some cases at least, it seems that males that actively patrol their territory tend to have 4 eye spots (presumably to add extra confusion towards attacking birds?) whereas those males that spend more time perching than patrolling tend to have 3 eye spots.

Also, the supposed race oblita which is found in northern Scotland is quite a different looking beast than the typical English form. And it is stable. Unless you bring it down to southern England in which case it very quickly reverts back to type. Like within 2 generations or so!

There's more than meets the eye when it comes to Speckled Woods!!!

Cheers,

Gibster.

[Reverdin]

I think it is easiest to tell by the large male sex brand on the forewing

which makes your last image a male, consistent with abdo

[NickMorgan]

Ah great, thanks very much Reverdin. I never knew that. I had always imagined that the sex brand was a much smaller patch on the wing. Scrolling up and down through the pictures now it seems fairly obvious that only the top picture is a female. As I wrote the original post I noticed the thinner abdomen on the last picture, but I had convinced myself that the eye-spots were the distinguishing feature.
The more I learn about butterflies the more fascinating I find them!
This little "colony" was first found last year. In 2010 one Speckled Wood was seen about two kilometres away from here and one was recorded about 20 kilometres away just inside East Lothian in 2009. They had been spotted in a few areas in the Scottish Borders before that. So, this seems to be an expansion of the southern population moving northwards. When you look at the distribution map for Speckled Woods, East Lothian (just east of Edinburgh) is right in the middle of the area where they are not shown to occur.
I would imagine that this wee "colony" originated from one female who happened to fly up here. It is amazing how much variation there is between the individuals. However, looking at the pictures on this forum the Speckled Wood does seem to be a very variable butterfly across the country (and Europe).
Thank you again for your help. You learn something every day and that was a big bit of knowledge!!

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Nick,

There is also variation between the broods, with the first spring brood being richer in the yellow colouring. The Autumn brood can sometimes seem quite pale by comparison, at least in my experience.

I agree with Rev that the last one is a male.

I love the fact you are reporting on the range expansion as it happens!

Best wishes,

Lee

[Susan]

Really interesting information and great photos.

So am I right in assuming that the top one here is male and the bottom one female, because of the different body shape?

[Pete Eeles]

Really interesting information and great photos.

So am I right in assuming that the top one here is male and the bottom one female, because of the different body shape?

Yes - the female abdomen is full of eggs

Cheers,

- Pete

[PhilBJohnson]

An added thought was to look at the differences in individuals photographed together (that almost certainly were from the same local colony with genetic similarity). Usually, a Speckled Wood was photographed as an individual.
Females from the same local colony, it appeared, usually had larger lighter patches in comparison with the male from the same locality, usually giving the eyespots on the upper side of the hindwing, a larger overall appearance, in comparison with a local male.
The female might then have appeared overall, lighter in flight.
As males were territorial ("antennae jousting", hopefully avoiding personal catastrophic wing damage in flight), one might not have found very often, a picture of them together at rest, unless in need of something less sexual.

[David Lazarus]

Hi, I am trying to become more "professional" in identifying species and the variations within the species, such as the difference between spring and summer broods. I felt quite confident in my ability to identify most of the species I encounter here in Chelmsford. I thought I would up my game by joining UK Butterflies and subsequently realised that the knowledge and experience of butterfly enthusiasts on this site were on a different level - kind of somewhere between "wow!" and "OMG".
I wondered if you could help me tell the difference between a male and female Speckled Wood - I am confining my images to this year's spring brood here in the Chelmsford and Mid-Essex region. The difference in broods seem to complicate the matter even further with some inconsistent information primarily regarding size and colour of the markings, and how this affects the light/darkness of the butterfly and/or just its markings - then male and female and regions

okay, here we go

Firstly, this individual is territorial and has come down from the canopy to bask in the sun and wait for a passing female (perhaps) - [s]he jumps up, flies around me, before settling back in presumably his territory:

Speckled Wood 08/04/2024 Meadgate Park

I am reasonably confident that [s]he is a male. On top of the territorial behaviour [s]he appears to have small markings. In the field, there is no way I can tell what size [s]he is, so I cannot use this as an identification tool. Now, in none of the 18 books on butterflies that I own or any of the numerous sites I have read is there any mention of the sex brand of a male Speckled Wood. Looking at the image I could not tell you what is the sex brand, if [s]he has one. Therefore, I can not use this as an identification tool either.

Second individual, once again is exhibiting territorial behaviour and has similar sized markings as the first. I think [s]he is also a male:

Speckled Wood 12/04/2024 Great Holland Pits

They seem similar even though they are from different places in Essex. I cannot see any difference between the two and once again I would not know whether [s]he has a sex brand or not.

Now, this pretty little thing was hanging around my local patch but did not move when I approached. S[he] was just basking in the morning sun and did not fly up to inspect me or any other insect that happened to pass by, as far as I can remember.

Speckled Wood 13/04/2024 Meadgate Park

To my eyes, [s]he seems to have bigger markings than the first two and, this may be an identification tool too, these markings seem to be of a more rich colour. Granted, this may be because she is fresher than the previous two and/or it is a trick of the light. Anyway, I am reasonably confident that [s]he is indeed a female.

The next day I came across him/her again - I thought so anyway - and [s]he is with another Specklie fluttering around together as I approached and then settled down a short distance away from each other as if they had just separated. I went to take a photo, the other one flew off, and [s]he remained:

Speckled Wood 14/04/2024 Meadgate Park

As you can see, [s]he lifted up her abdomen, and at the time I thought to myself that [s]he was the same one that was hanging around from yesterday and that now [s]he has mated and is behaving in such a way to suggest so. I then read that females pretend they are dead when they are not interested. On closer inspection I could not tell from the photo whether this was indeed the same butterfly. [S]he appears very similar, large markings - the same tail on the marking next to the eye spot - and with the behaviour exhibited I think maybe [s]he is a female. Hold on, is that a sex brand???

Then all this analysis goes up in smoke when I come across this individual:

Speckled Wood 17/04/2024 Meadgate Fields Open Space

I nearly trod on him/her as she flew out of some grass on the path - not sunbathing - no stretched out wings to make me aware [s]he is there. [S]he flew a short distance away and once again into some grass. I went to inspect and took a photo even though it was a little difficult to get the mobile close to him/her in the grass. I had never taken a photo of a Specklie in grass as far as I could remember. On walking away and inspecting the image, I suddenly realised that this individual could well have been ovipositing on the larval food plant. I immediately thought, at last a confirmed sighting of a female Speckled Wood.

She does not look like the previous individual or the first two - are the markings larger than even the one I thought was a female? I am now thinking that I have made a big mistake and that all three previous individuals are males with varying sized markings and that the line on the upperwing is indeed a sex brand (of what I thought was a female).

Or is this last one and the previous one both females, they both have relatively bigger markings, it doesn't matter about the "tail" on the marking of the third individual - and most importantly perhaps, that is not a sex brand just a vein that appears darker in the photo.

Can anyone enlighten me? Have I two males and two females - one female exhibiting "not interested" behaviour by raising her abdomen and the other is indeed ovipositing?

Or have I got it all completely wrong?

many thanks, in advance.

David

[bugboy]

Hi David, it can be a tricky thing and even us 'experts' get things wrong sometimes. As you've already noted, behaviour is often a big clue, a SW behaving territorially and picking fights with passing insects and shadows is always going to be a male. When two encounter each other and end up tumbling in the air dogfighting as each one tries to get the upper hand, this also signifies you have two males, courting individuals don't behave like this. Again as you've said, females usually pretend to be dead or if she is unmated the mating is usually very quick with very little visible courtship.

Females of most if not all butterflies are less often encountered simply because they try and keep a low profile to a) avoid being eaten before they've laid their eggs and b) so they don't have to waste valuable time telling the males to bugger off! In my experience I would hazard a guess that for every 50 SW males I encounter over the season, I'll come across maybe 5 or 6 females. Female SW are normally encountered bimbling around close to the ground, not making any great effort to stay in the sun.

As to visual clues it's easiest to point them out with pictures. Since there's a quite a large range of normal natural variation within the species, the pattern (size of spots, colour etc) is probably the least useful way of telling the sexes apart. The easiest is to look at the shape of the abdomen, long and thin in the male and shorter and fatter in the female (it's full of eggs) a useful method in many species who aren't sexually dimorphic.

male

female

Other clues I sometimes use are the size and shape of the wings, generally the forewings are rounder and larger in females, compared to the slightly more angular males wings. This will though be subject to natural variation and also wear and tear as they age so is far from fool proof.
In sunlight you can also often make out the males scent patch as it glints which is in the same place as a Gatekeepers.

With time and experience you'll learn to take all these factors as a whole, behaviour and looks to get a 'feel' of the individual you're looking at and come to the right conclusion.

As to your images, the first 3 are all males (long thin abdomens). The 4th I'm less sure about visually but based on your description of the behaviour you describe it must also be a male and the final shot, well you don't need anyone to confirm her!

As with all nature, the best teacher is nature itself and for me is all part of the enjoyment!

Hope that helps

[David Lazarus]

Brilliant! Thank you so much bugboy. This is exactly what I needed and hoped for. Your two images and particularly the shape and relative size of the wings is just what I wanted moving forward. Still a little unsure I know where and what I am looking for when it comes to the glinting male scent patch - but your description and similarity to that of a Gatekeeper means it is only a matter of time before I am there.

Super reply - much appreciated.

Happy butterflying,

David

[bugboy]

You're welcome

[Padfield]

A couple of pictures of males (both taken in Suffolk) to show that sex brand:





At the right angles, and on fresh specimens, it is easily visible as a grey sheen.

Guy

[David Lazarus]

Hi Guy,

Thank you for the images of the scent brands. With the information provided by Paul, I think I have it now with sufficient behavioural and visual information to make a more confident identification of a male and female Speckled Wood. So if I can sum up the visual information:

Male Speckled Wood

• 1. the size and shape of the abdomen
  2. the scent brand
  3. the size and shape of the forewings
  4. size of the buff-coloured patches [although this is not as reliable as 1. & 2.

I think perhaps it is actually easier to tell the difference than I expected - it is just a matter of knowing what to look for.

I think the first 3 images I provided above are definitely males, the 5th one is definitely a female, and as I previously thought, given that I probably witnessed a brief coupling low down on a bramble, that the 4th image is of a female immediately post-cop.

thanks so much both of you.

[Jack Harrison]

Thread title:

Differences between males and females?

Easy. Males never need persuading. Females often do

Jack