Identifying features
Medium-sized brown butterfly with slender wings. The upper side has a base colour of brown, slightly lighter than many other Norwegian brown butterflies. On the forewing’s upper side, there is a large, yellow-edged eye spot with a white center, sometimes accompanied by a few smaller spots around it. In the female, the eye spot is located in a backward-tapering, ochre-yellow area; this is absent in the male. Unlike Northern wall brown, it lacks the dark cross-stripes at the leading edge between the wing root and the large eye spot. The hindwing has a varying number of yellow-edged eye spots along the lower edge of the outer margin. The forewing’s underside is grey-yellow with a darker edge and eye spot, similar to the upper side; the hindwing’s underside is mottled grey-brown.
Similar species
It strongly resembles Northern wall brown (Lasiommata petropolitana), which is often found in the same locations, but large wall brown is somewhat larger and flies further out during the summer. Unlike Northern wall brown, it lacks the dark cross-stripes at the leading edge between the wing root and the large eye spot on the forewing.
Distribution
Most common by the coast.
Biology
The larvae live on various types of grass. Unlike many other sawflies, it often visits flowers. The larva is green with a dark green stripe on its back and two light green side stripes.