White Letter Hairstreak

[David M]

I'm keen to see this species and have visited a site today where their presence is advertised. The woodland management team have planted wych elm especially for them but, in true Hairstreak style, they remained invisible in spite of me rattling a few elm branches as I made my way through the woodland rides.

I'm sure a few of you have experience of studying this species, so I'd be really grateful for some advice on how to go about locating them.

1. What time of day is best to see them?

2. Are they only found on elms?

3. Which flowering plants are they attracted to?

4. Do they need a hot day to become sufficienty active to be spotted?

Any tips would be appreciated.

[Matsukaze]

Some ideas in here, particularly from Guy. viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3013

Butterfly Conservation published a booklet some years back, which I cannot lay my hands on now, in which the author suggested that the species was adapted to be cryptic on the flower-heads of creeping thistle. After managing to stand right by three WLH drinking steadily from the flowerheads for five minutes before I noticed them, one morning last week, I can well believe this.

[David M]

Seems the ova are easier to spot than the adults!

Very enigmatic species, this. I've been in plenty of elm-laden woods lately but haven't had a sniff of a WLH.

I guess it's just a question of going out one day and getting lucky.

[fourwings]

There's alot of luck involved with getting good images/sightings of this species, personally I've always found Fermyn Woods to be an excellent site for these. Park at the ride gate opposite the Welland Glider-club site and walk down the ride until you get to the first crossing of rides, the young Elms either side of the main ride at this point are very good for WLH, but be prepared to be patient

[Charles Nicol]

Bedford Purlieus was crawling with WLHs yesterday !!

Charles

[Jonathan Evans]

Hello David,

I had a spot of good luck with White-letter Hairstreak yesterday at Glamorgan Canal/Forest Farm in Whitchurch Cardiff. I've given directions to the spot on the sightings page. Hopefully this site is close to you, so might be worth a shot.

Cheers,

Jon

[Padfield]

Something I've consciously noticed this year for the first time is that now the main WLH season is coming to an end the butterflies seem to be dropping their normal diurnal patterns and just nectaring at any old time of day. I found one completely at random yesterday, nectaring in a meadow where I was looking for short-tailed blues, and two today enjoying a drink at 2.30 in the afternoon.

Yesterday, c. 3.00pm, in the middle of a meadow, nowhere near any elms:



Today at 2.30pm, on angelica, I think...



... and on thistle:



For those who have yet to see one this year it is still definitely worth going out looking, and perhaps concentrating on good nectar fields whenever the sun is on them.

Incidentally, I found the short-tailed blues, at the same local site I have seen them for three successive generations now, confirming that this species is making a very welcome comeback in Switzerland after years of scarcity:



Guy

[Roger Gibbons]

Some interesting information here:

http://www.hertsmiddx-butterflies.org.u ... /index.php

[Padfield]

What an informative site, Roger!

I was in my woods from 1.30pm to about 3.00pm today and WLH were nectaring in ones and twos wherever there were sunlit thistles and/or hemp agrimony. So far as I could see they were all females. There was no activity around the master tree(s). This definitely marks a shift from earlier in the year, when it wasn't really worth looking for nectaring butterflies until about 5.00pm and the master trees glittered with dancing males during the heat of the day.

Guy