Spanish gatekeeper
Pyronia bathseba
The Spanish gatekeeper is a small brown and orange butterfly from Spain, France and North Africa. It is a cousin of the gatekeeper that lives further north in Europe. Its caterpillars eat grass.
Lives in
Spain, Portugal, France, Morocco and Algeria, in grassy places
Wingspan
1.8 to 1.9 cm (0.71 to 0.75 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars eat grasses, mostly false brome grasses.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 45 seconds
How big is Spanish gatekeeper compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Spanish gatekeeper about 8.4 km/h (5.2 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It flies from May to July, depending on where it lives.
2
Its close cousin, the gatekeeper, lives in northern Europe.
3
It is a small butterfly, with wings only about 2 centimetres across.
you asked
Most asked questions about Spanish gatekeeper
?What does the Spanish gatekeeper eat?
Its caterpillars eat grasses.
?Where does the Spanish gatekeeper live?
In Spain, Portugal, France, Morocco and Algeria.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pyronia bathseba
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa
Where the facts come from
- Pyronia bathseba (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by SALÈS Christian. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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