Spanish Purple Hairstreak (Laeosopis evippus)
2009 photos highlighted in yellow. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 6101_male_Var_29May07 | 6258_female_Var_1Jun07 | 16527_male?_Var_23Jun09 |
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| 16559_male?_Var_23Jun09 | 11352_female?_Var_21Jun08 | 16492_female_Var_23Jun09 |
A very localised species, basically Spanish (as you might expect) although its range extends eastwards into southern France, as is often the case with principally Iberian species. It is (allegedly, see later) only found near Ash trees (Fraxinus angustifolia) (the larval hostplant) and near water. It is not unlike the Purple Hairstreak (Neozephyrus quercus) in that the female has less purple on the upperside than the male, and the female also has more prominent uph submarginal blue spots in s1-3. The female underside is also slightly more heavily marked. It (allegedly) tends to disappear into the higher branches by mid-afternoon, so the morning is the best time to look for it. In some books it is referred to as Laeosopis roboris.
Until 2009 I had only found it at one site in Var where the flight period was end-May to mid-June although I found that most specimens were showing serious signs of wear by 7 June. It was found there regularly every year although in limited numbers. However, in late June 2008 I visited a site I had visited frequently in early spring and found evippus present, nowhere near water and no obvious Ash trees in the vicinity. A similar visit in 2009 produced evippus in large numbers, where 50 or more could have been counted nectaring in the afternoon, and that may have only been the tip of the iceberg.
6101: a male, with extensive purple patches on the upf. Its pose, at the edge of a bush and looking outwards, is typically territorial, ready to chase off any males that strayed into its territory. Altitude 200m.
6258: a female, with a limited basal blue-purple patch on the upf and only a few blue scales just visible on the uph. The uph marginal blue marks are quite large and extensive compared to the male in 6069, strangely given that the male has more extensive patches in the basal area. Altitude 200m.
16527: probably a male, based on the fact that it is taking salts on dry earth (females do puddle for moisture occasionally but the earth seems to be damp when they do) and what can be seen of the body shape (and end of the abdomen) suggests male. Altitude 450m.
16559: this may well be a female in that the end of the abdomen appears pointed. The markings appear quite strong and the ground colour quite brown, both of which suggest female. This was one of a number nectaring on these flower heads and it was quite difficult to get a shot where one was not obscuring another - a nice problem to have, though! Altitude 450m.
11352: maybe a female, from the body shape and some subtle differences in markings. However, the end of the abdomen is not pointed as one would expect for a female. Altitude 450m.
16492: I believe this is almost certainly a female, based on body thickness and the pointed end of the abdomen. Altitude 450m.
