Map Butterfly -1st Spring Generation

The Map is unusual in that its two annual broods that look very different: levana and prorsa, which represent the spring and summer broods, respectively. Levana individuals are primarily orange in colour, giving them the appearance of a small fritillary, whereas prorsa individuals look more like a very small White Admiral. The eggs are laid in long strings, one on top of the other, on the underside of stinging nettles, the larval foodplant. It is thought that these strings of eggs mimic the flowers of the nettles, thereby evading predators. The larvae feed gregariously and hibernate as pupae.
Habitat: It is common throughout the lowlands of central and eastern Europe, and is expanding its range in western Europe.