White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album)
2011 photos highlighted in green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
|
|
|
| 6242_sex?_Var_1Jun07 | 10550_sex?_Var_15May08 |
|
This is less common than its Satyrium cousins and superficially quite similar, although the "W" shape of the white band of the unh both gives it its name and leaves no room for doubt. It also seems to have longer tails than the others, and the female seems to have longer tails than the male. The marginal marks are otherwise quite similar to the Sloe Hairstreak (S. acaciae. |
There are varying amounts of blue scales on the black unh marginal mark in s1. Ironically, it occurs in the UK whereas the other Satyrium species do not (apart from the Black Hairstreak (S. pruni) which may be threatened with extinction). It is possibly one of the few butterflies that is actually more common in the UK than France. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 6242 | F |
I'm guessing that 6242 is a female based only on the length of the tails, as there are virtually no other clues if the body shape is not visible. |
200 |
| 10550 | F |
I suspect that this is also a female, based on the tail length, the visible body shape and the size - I recall that it was exceptionally large. However, I did see it on 15 May, very very early for any Satyrium species, and the early emergence would tend to argue for it being a male. |
140 |
