Lycaenidae : Theclinae
Brown Hairstreak
THECLA betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Brown Hairstreak
THECLA betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: 36-45mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe : Except Northern and extreme Southern parts, through Asia to Korea. Declining in many European countries.
UK Distribution: A rare and declining species in Southern England and Wales.Only be found in the mid-west of Ireland.
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: Late July-Early September-Univoltine : One brood per year
Habitat: Hedgerows : Deciduous woodland in sunny positions : In tree canopy of Ash.
Ovum: One of natures wonders, the beautifully shaped white cake shaped ovum has intricate markings all over making it look like a structural miracle. See ovum photo 1 below.
The ova are deposited,usually 2 or 3 at a time in the fork, at the stem junction of young Blackthorn plants as shown in the photos below.
Hibernates as an ova where they can be found in the latter months of the year when the white coloured egg is clearly visible, once the eye gets adjusted to the task in hand against the dark background of the Blackthorn branches. Usually found on the young bushes as opposed to older growth but not entirely. The ova remain in place for eight months before hatching in late April or early May
Larva: In the spring the tiny larva bores a neat hole in the ova before squeezing out and enters an LFP leafbud where it stays for about two weeks. It emerges after the first instar to spend the remainder of the stage on a silk pad beneath a leaf only feeding at dusk on young leaf tips.
After further moults it finally descends to the ground to find a pupation site.
Pupa: The larva pupates in crevices in the ground or curled up leaves and almost certainly attended by ants for the four weeks of this stage.
Certainly at this stage the pupa are subject to high levels of predation by mammals such as Shrews and Mice where up to 80% can be lost.
Luckily, females produce large quantities of ovum that compensates for these losses.
Overwinters as: Ovum
Observations: Intensive farming practices and the removal of Blackthorn hedges along with inappropriate mechanical hedge cutting and the resulting loss of Brown Hairsreak eggs, have added to the demise of this species in many areas.
Sadly I have also experienced what I have seen as inappropriate management, where clumps of Blackthorn with eggs have been removed, possibly as an advantage for one species but to the detriment of the Brown Hairstreak.
Many hours have been spent searching for this elusive butterfly along Blackthorn hedges or at the "Master Ash Tree" where small groups gather to feed on aphid honeydew or to mate.
Being at the end of our butterfly season much is subjected to the weather in the search for this species but their can be no greater delight than to find one nectaring at one of their favourite plants such as Hemp agrimony,Fleabane,Knapweed or Bramble.
It is possible to find a female depositing eggs in the fork or stem junction of young Blackthorn plants where the white ova is conspicuous, aiding winters counts when the leaves have fallen.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe : Except Northern and extreme Southern parts, through Asia to Korea. Declining in many European countries.
UK Distribution: A rare and declining species in Southern England and Wales.Only be found in the mid-west of Ireland.
UK Conservation Status -
- NERC S.41 : 2008 (England) & NERC S.42 : 2009 (Wales) - Species "of principle importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity
- Vulnerable - Butterfly Red List for Great Britain 2010
- BAP : 2007 - Priority Species
- Insufficient Data
- Papilio betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Papilio betulae (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Sweden
Flight Period: Late July-Early September-Univoltine : One brood per year
Habitat: Hedgerows : Deciduous woodland in sunny positions : In tree canopy of Ash.
Ovum: One of natures wonders, the beautifully shaped white cake shaped ovum has intricate markings all over making it look like a structural miracle. See ovum photo 1 below.
The ova are deposited,usually 2 or 3 at a time in the fork, at the stem junction of young Blackthorn plants as shown in the photos below.
Hibernates as an ova where they can be found in the latter months of the year when the white coloured egg is clearly visible, once the eye gets adjusted to the task in hand against the dark background of the Blackthorn branches. Usually found on the young bushes as opposed to older growth but not entirely. The ova remain in place for eight months before hatching in late April or early May
Larva: In the spring the tiny larva bores a neat hole in the ova before squeezing out and enters an LFP leafbud where it stays for about two weeks. It emerges after the first instar to spend the remainder of the stage on a silk pad beneath a leaf only feeding at dusk on young leaf tips.
After further moults it finally descends to the ground to find a pupation site.
Pupa: The larva pupates in crevices in the ground or curled up leaves and almost certainly attended by ants for the four weeks of this stage.
Certainly at this stage the pupa are subject to high levels of predation by mammals such as Shrews and Mice where up to 80% can be lost.
Luckily, females produce large quantities of ovum that compensates for these losses.
Overwinters as: Ovum
Observations: Intensive farming practices and the removal of Blackthorn hedges along with inappropriate mechanical hedge cutting and the resulting loss of Brown Hairsreak eggs, have added to the demise of this species in many areas.
Sadly I have also experienced what I have seen as inappropriate management, where clumps of Blackthorn with eggs have been removed, possibly as an advantage for one species but to the detriment of the Brown Hairstreak.
Many hours have been spent searching for this elusive butterfly along Blackthorn hedges or at the "Master Ash Tree" where small groups gather to feed on aphid honeydew or to mate.
Being at the end of our butterfly season much is subjected to the weather in the search for this species but their can be no greater delight than to find one nectaring at one of their favourite plants such as Hemp agrimony,Fleabane,Knapweed or Bramble.
It is possible to find a female depositing eggs in the fork or stem junction of young Blackthorn plants where the white ova is conspicuous, aiding winters counts when the leaves have fallen.
Photo Gallery
Ova
The ova are deposited,usually 2 or 3 at a time in the fork, at the stem junction of young Blackthorn
plants as shown in the photos below.
Hibernates as an ovum where they can be found in the latter months of the year when the white coloured egg is
clearly visible, once the eye gets adjusted to the task in hand against the dark background of the Blackthorn branches.
Usually found on the young bushes as opposed to older growth but not entirely.
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Brown Hairstreak larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
The Blackthorn is a welcome sight in early spring where they adorn the roadside verges in a mass of white blossom.
The Blackthorn is a member of the prunus or plum family and are probably best known for the fruit which is on
the bush from July and is known as Sloe from which "Sloe Gin" gets its name.
Care should be taken with this deciduous shrub when picking fruit due to the spiny branches which can impart a
serious wound if handled improperly.
Brown Hairstreak larvae feed on plant families described below plant photos.
The Blackthorn is a welcome sight in early spring where they adorn the roadside verges in a mass of white blossom.
The Blackthorn is a member of the prunus or plum family and are probably best known for the fruit which is on
the bush from July and is known as Sloe from which "Sloe Gin" gets its name.
Care should be taken with this deciduous shrub when picking fruit due to the spiny branches which can impart a
serious wound if handled improperly.
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Betulaceae - The Birch Family
- Corylus avellana - Hazel
- Rosaceae - Rose Family
- Crataegus sanguine - Blood Red Hawthorn
- Padus avium - European Bird Cherry
- Prunus domestica - Bullace - Plum (Britain)
- Prunus padus - Bird Cherry - Hackberry
- Prunus spinosa - Blackthorn - Sloe (Britain)
- Crataegus sanguine - Blood Red Hawthorn
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species-THECLA: Original Species Name: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Lycaenidae Theclinae Theclini THECLA Fabricius, 1807 Thecla betulae (Linnaeus, 1758) - Papilio betulae (Linnaeus, 1758) - PAPILIO betulae (Linnaeus, 1758) = Thecla betulae spinosae Gerhard, 1853 = Thecla betulae coreana Nire, 1919 = Thecla betulae gaimana Doi & Cho, 1931 = Thecla betulae daurica Dubatolov, 1999 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.482 n.146 - Sweden - T.b. cuneata Tutt, 1907 T.b. lata Tutt, 1907 T.b. lineata Tutt, 1907 T.b. lutea Tutt, 1907 T.b. pallida Tutt, 1896 T.b. restricta Tutt, 1907 T.b. spinosae Gerhard, 1853 T.b. steinbuhleri Hoffmann, 1914 T.b. subunicolor Tutt, 1907 T.b. uncilinea Tutt, 1907 T.b. unicolor Tutt, 1907 T.b. unistrigata Schultz, 1909 T.b. virgata Tutt, 1907 - T.b.betulae Linnaeus,1758-Europe : N.Caucasus : Saur : Tarbagatai : Dzhungarsky Alatau : Siberia : Amur : Ussuri : Caucasus : S.Altai : Sau T.b.crassa Leech, 1894-S.Ussuri T.b.ongodai Tutt, 1908-Altai T.b.coreana Nire, 1919-Korea T.b.elwesi Leech, 1890-West China : Central China T.b.yiliguozigounae Huang & Murayama, 1992-China |
