It is not the most colorful butterfly and smaller than most that visit the garden, but it is pretty nevertheless. It can be found all over Europe and it is not particularly shy.
The one on the photos here I found on the lavender my mum grows in Poland. But I also saw the around wastelands in Portugal.
The wings on the outside are beige-brown and with orange. On the inside its mainly dark brown with one spot. If you google the name you'll see that some have some orange colour too and bigger or smaller spots. That depends on the sex of the butterfly. Males are usually darker brown (which you will see on the photo a little lower), while females have lighter colour and more orange on the inner wings.
It can be found in various places from gardens, to meadows and woodlands. They will feed of the nectar and don't see to me picky.
The female will lay eggs among grasses and that's what the larvae will eat until transforming into another generation of butterflies.
A little group shot.
This one didn't want to open the wings, but in a different location, thousands kilometers away I did find it again. And the wings were open :)
A nice graphic with the inner and outer wings on both sexes:
graphic source
Bonus shots:
On the very same lavender I noticed a moth feeding on the nectar too. Flapping her nasty little wings so fast I couldn't catch it.
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Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own.
