The very elusive Satyrium w-album

[nomad]

Today, the White-letter Hairstreak [ Satyrium w-album ] really is a elusive butterfly and is much rarer than formerly due to Dutch elm disease. Probably because I never visited choice localities for this species, the last time I had a close encounter was way back in 1978 when I found two tatty butterflies feeding on creeping thistle beneath elms on the edge of my home town. Today those thistles and elms with their hairstreaks are long gone, a victim of urban sprawl. I have only seen this butterfly once since then with the aid of binoculars flying around the tops of elms in a large woodland. I thought it was time I made a closer acquaintance with this rare species and recently traveled to a distant known locality. Low elm regrowth 20-30 feet high lined a high hedgerow and along the top I observed Satyrium w-album chasing each other at high speed and the males spiraling high in the air till they were lost to view. Patiently I waited beneath the hedgerow closely watching a large patch of bramble flowers for any hairstreaks descending to feed. These really are tiny butterflies and appear at a bramble flower as if by magic, such is their speed of arrival. Unfortunately they usually choose the higher bramble sprays but I was fortunate that two came within reach of my camera. Because of the dogfights and mating and feeding habits, the butterflies soon because tatty and worn and images of pristine individuals are I believe as rare as the butterflies themselves.




Satyrium w-album First image of a female, second a male.

[wollastoni]

Wonderful pictures

[nomad]

Thanks wollastoni. I was pleased to have obtained them.

[bobw]

Lovely little bug! Where I live seems to be quite a stronghold for this species and I frequently see them coming down to feed on Ragwort in my garden. They seem to be exclusively on Wych Elm here and if you look at the treetops you can usually see a few of them batting about. It's also quite easy to find ova and larvae at the right times. We've lost quite a few of the Elms but there are still plenty left to support them.

Bob

[nomad]

Hi Bob

Must be great having Satyrium w-album above your garden. Would be a interesting species to breed.

Peter.

[bobw]

Hi Peter

Yes, they're always enjoyable to watch.

I've bred it many times, sometimes for several years with the same stock. The ova are particularly interesting and look like little flying saucers. They're actually very easy to rear; the only tricky part is the newly hatched larvae as they hatch in Feb-Mar so have to start feeding on flowers before the trees come into leaf. They have to be outside as the flowers are wind-pollinated and if they don't get pollinated they dry up very quickly and the small larvae are almost impossible to find amongst the dust - so they tend to dry up as well.

Bob

[timmsyrj]

I found a colony of these near my home once, totally by chance, I was fishing a local gravel pit and had drunk a little too much tea, went to relieve myself by a small bush in a field of ragwort behind me and there was 2 males nectaring, a quick look around revealed half a dozen in total, this was 10 or more years ago and they are still there, I always look for them now.

[jensb]

Hello,

In the netherlands recently is found a seccond population.
Before this population you only could find it in "limburg",
theire it could be found at a few spots, the most southern part
of NL. But this new population is found
way up north near "winterswijk" they didn't say the exact finding
place but i bet it is in the korenburgerveen.

GReets jens

[Deleted]

Avery easily overlooked species,there has been a colony in the woods at the bottom of my garden for years, but very difficult to locate and only a few individuals are seen each year,lovely to see it at all though.