Amaryllis
Pyronia tithonus
Papillon
L'amaryllis (Pyronia tithonus), aussi appelé le satyre tithon, est un papillon orange et brun de taille moyenne de la famille des Nymphalidae (sous-famille des Satyrinae), reconnaissable à la tache sombre de l'aile antérieure renfermant deux points blancs et, chez les mâles, à une bande androconiale (marque sexuelle) sur l'aile antérieure. Les adultes volent de juillet à août (parfois dès la fin juin par conditions chaudes ou méridionales), privilégiant les haies abritées, les lisières de bois et les marges de champs broussailleuses à travers l'Europe, avec des populations supplémentaires au Maroc et dans l'ouest de la Turquie. Les chenilles se nourrissent la nuit de graminées fines, dont les agrostides (Agrostis spp.), les fétuques (Festuca spp.) et les pâturins (Poa spp.). Au jardin, les adultes butinent abondamment l'origan (Origanum vulgare), la ronce, le séneçon et la pulicaire, si bien que planter herbes aromatiques et fleurs sauvages est un moyen fiable d'attirer l'espèce.
Plan pour cette espèce
Ensemble de plantes adaptées à Chicago, IL : d'abord les plantes hôtes et spécialistes, puis les plantes à nectar, fruits, graines, feuillage et abri qui restent compatibles avec la lecture climatique actuelle et du milieu du siècle.
2 relations essentielles / 2 plantes de soutien
Liens hôte/spécialiste : 2
Liens fourrage/pollinisation : 2
Liens abri : 0
Rôles de relation : 2
Fétuque ovine
Essentielle / Plantes hôtes des larves
Wikipedia names the gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) first among the caterpillars that feed on this grass, and the gatekeeper record in this catalogue independently gives fescues among its larval foodplants. The practical consequence is a maintenance instruction rather than a planting one: gatekeeper larvae feed nocturnally on the leaves and overwinter small, so a sheep fescue planting that is sheared to the ground in autumn loses them. Leave rough tussocks standing through the winter at the sheltered, hedge-backed edges the adults patrol in July and August.
Fétuque rouge
Essentielle / Plantes hôtes des larves
Pyronia tithonus larvae feed on fine grasses including bents (Agrostis), fescues (Festuca) and meadow-grasses (Poa), and the adults favour sheltered hedgerows, woodland edges and scrubby margins, which is the half-shaded ground where red fescue is most often sown. Genus-level host record again, so plausible rather than documented. It is listed partly to make a point about this genus in the catalog: blue fescue (Festuca glauca) carries an empty wildlife list as an exotic ornamental, while red fescue across its native European range is a working larval host. Choosing between them is a wildlife decision as well as an aesthetic one.
Origan
De soutien / Plantes à nectar
Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare) is one of the gatekeeper's most consistently documented nectar sources; a garden study recorded satyrines visiting Origanum almost exclusively.
Arbre aux papillons
De soutien / Plantes à nectar
Short-tongued and partial to open flowers like marjoram; a garden study recorded zero gatekeeper visits to Buddleja against hundreds on Origanum, so buddleia is at most an incidental visit.
Plantes du catalogue
Plantes hôtes des larves · 2
Pyronia tithonus larvae feed on fine grasses including bents (Agrostis), fescues (Festuca) and meadow-grasses (Poa), and the adults favour sheltered hedgerows, woodland edges and scrubby margins, which is the half-shaded ground where red fescue is most often sown. Genus-level host record again, so plausible rather than documented. It is listed partly to make a point about this genus in the catalog: blue fescue (Festuca glauca) carries an empty wildlife list as an exotic ornamental, while red fescue across its native European range is a working larval host. Choosing between them is a wildlife decision as well as an aesthetic one.
Wikipedia names the gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) first among the caterpillars that feed on this grass, and the gatekeeper record in this catalogue independently gives fescues among its larval foodplants. The practical consequence is a maintenance instruction rather than a planting one: gatekeeper larvae feed nocturnally on the leaves and overwinter small, so a sheep fescue planting that is sheared to the ground in autumn loses them. Leave rough tussocks standing through the winter at the sheltered, hedge-backed edges the adults patrol in July and August.
Plantes à nectar · 2
Short-tongued and partial to open flowers like marjoram; a garden study recorded zero gatekeeper visits to Buddleja against hundreds on Origanum, so buddleia is at most an incidental visit.
Wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare) is one of the gatekeeper's most consistently documented nectar sources; a garden study recorded satyrines visiting Origanum almost exclusively.
Répartition
Présent dans l'ouest, le centre et le sud de l'Europe ; absent d'Écosse (hormis des observations méridionales occasionnelles), de Scandinavie et des régions septentrionales du continent. Au-delà de l'Europe, son aire atteint les montagnes du Rif, au Maroc (Afrique du Nord), ainsi que la Turquie et le Caucase, dans l'ouest de l'Asie. Deux sous-espèces sont largement reconnues - P. t. britanniae dans les îles Britanniques et P. t. tithonus en Europe continentale -, auxquelles s'ajoute P. t. distincta (Rothschild, 1933), décrite de Ketama, au Maroc, dont le statut varie selon les autorités.
Sources et citations
Citer cette page
Utilisez cette citation pour la fiche faune Plotwright. Utilisez les fiches de sources ci-dessous pour explorer les références ayant alimenté sa taxonomie, sa répartition, sa conservation, ses plantes hôtes, son alimentation et son habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Amaryllis (Pyronia tithonus). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/gatekeeper-butterfly
Sources utilisées pour cette fiche
Cette fiche est élaborée à partir des sources ci-dessous.
Gatekeeper - Wikipedia
Identification (twin-pupil eyespot, male sex-brand), the Euro-North-African-west-Asian range, the grass larval hosts, and adult nectaring on open flowers.
Gatekeeper - UK Butterflies
UK Butterflies species account for the gatekeeper, covering its southern-British and Irish distribution, midsummer single-brood flight, grass larval foodplants, and adult flower visits.
Pyronia tithonus - GBIF
GBIF backbone taxonomy record for Pyronia tithonus, confirming the accepted species and its European occurrence range.
Pyronia tithonus - iNaturalist
iNaturalist taxon page for Pyronia tithonus, corroborating the accepted name and observation-based range.