Maniola telmessia
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Maniola telmessia, the Turkish meadow brown, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found on several Greek islands in the Aegean Sea and from there through Asia Minor to south-western Iran. It is described as a common species in Israel. In Turkey its distribution was observed in the regions of Aegean, southern Anatolia (Antalya to Kahramanmaraş) and southeastern Anatolia.
Adults are on wing from April to October in one generation per year. In hot summers, adults diapause. Mating takes place before this diapause, but the eggs are laid after, in September to October. When resting, adults often hide the "eyes" of the forewings under the camouflage colours of the underside of the hindwings. If disturbed, they lift the front wings abruptly or take off and fly elsewhere.
The egg is conical, with a rounded apex, vertical ridges and horizontal grooves. The caterpillars are green, with a lighter green line along their sides; their bodies being covered in short, greenish hairs; they reach up to 30mm in length and around 5mm in width. At the end of the body, caterpillars have a forked tail. They are particularly active at night, hiding during the day amongst the lower parts of their host plants; larvae feed on various grasses, especially on Agrostis and Alopecurus species. In March, the caterpillars begin to pupate on plant parts that are close to the ground. The pupa is initially greenish, changing to greenish yellow and, ultimately, to dark brown, before the adults emerge. The pupal stage takes 21 days. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Persian Meadow Brown sighting in Jerusalem on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 37th most-seen of the 137 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Persian Meadow Brown in Jerusalem on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and November–March, the lowest months. That is one of Jerusalem's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 90 mm in January.
Only Jerusalem, in our data
Jerusalem is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Persian Meadow Brown sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Persian Meadow Brown that you can see in Jerusalem (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Painted Lady (about 30%), Large Wall Brown (about 30%) and Red Admiral (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Persian Meadow Brown is recorded against all the insects logged in Jerusalem (15 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
