Satyrium w-album
This small dark-brown butterfly spends most of it life high up in the canopy of English and Wych Elm and has a well-deserved reputation for being difficult to find, and even more difficult to study. Both of these tree species were very badly affected by Dutch Elm Disease, from the late 1960s, onwards, and apart from a few Brighton parks there is nowhere in Sussex where White-letter Hairstreaks can be easily seen. This species is most active in the early part of the morning and then late afternoon and early evening, and it is often the dogfights between the males that alerts us to its presence. Very strongly arboreal, only rarely does an individual descend to nectar on wildflowers such as Wild Privet and Bramble and provide the butterfly enthusiast with an opportunity for close-up photography.
It is one of those species that seems to run in cycles, swarming all over a mature Elm one year but difficult to find the next. To see one requires plenty of patience and more than a modicum of luck.
The first adults are usually seen around June 20th, but they have a short flight period and by late July/early August their season is usually over.
Looking at the 2010-2014 county survey distribution map, White-letter Hairstreaks were recorded in very small numbers in both vice-counties. However, the bulk of the records were between Brighton and Eastbourne, with colonies found on the coast and the South Downs. The Brighton parks are the most reliable locations: Preston Park at TQ303063, Royal Pavilion Gardens and Victoria Gardens at TQ312042 and TQ313043 and Hollingbury Park at TQ314072 to TQ316077. Otherwise, Littlehampton Golf Course between TQ022018 and TQ018013.
Female White-letter Hairstreak on Bramble – photo by Dave Brown
The usual distant view – photo by Dave Brown
Nectaring on Wild Privet – photo by Keith Wilson
Nectaring on Wild Privet – photo by Keith Wilson
Feeding on Bramble – photo by Peter Farrant
Nectaring on Blackberry blossom – photo by Dave Brown
Butterfly Conservation White Letter Hairstreak
