The Butterflies of the British IslesSouth, Richard
Science
The Butterflies of the British Isles
South, Richard
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Butterflies -- Great Britain -- Identification; Lepidoptera -- Great Britain
The chrysalis is pale reddish-brown with a dark line down the middle of
the back and some pale oblique streaks on each side; the wing-cases are
freckled with darker brown. Barrett, quoting Fenn, says, "Suspended by
the tail and a silken girth to the stem of the food-plant close to the
ground." Those that I have seen pupated on or under leaves, and so far
as I could observe without any girth, and certainly not suspended.
Nearly two hundred years ago the male of this butterfly was known as the
Brown Hairstreak, whilst the female was called the Golden Hairstreak.
The caterpillar seems to have been observed in quite early times. It has
always been a local species, and although it appears to frequent
hedgerows occasionally, its haunts generally are open grounds in the
neighbourhood of woods, where blackthorn or sloe is plentiful. August
and September are the months for the butterfly, but it does not seem to
be very often observed on the wing, even in places where the
caterpillars are known to occur. When seen it is generally high up on,
or around, some oak tree. Occasionally, however, it visits the bramble
blossoms, and at such times becomes a fairly easy prey. The caterpillar
is obtained by beating sloe bushes.
Barrett, who seems to have worked out its distribution in England and
Wales pretty closely, remarks, "In the eastern counties it has been
taken occasionally in Norfolk and Suffolk, more frequently in Essex,
where, in Epping Forest, it has been fairly common; also in
Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Northamptonshire, in some plenty.
In very few localities in Kent, Sussex, Hants, and Dorset; rarely in
Gloucestershire, and possibly Somerset; but found in many Devonshire
localities, especially in the sheltered valleys around the Dartmoor
range, and in the charmingly wooded districts about Axminster and
Sidmouth; becoming common towards Dartmouth. It has also been found
commonly near Marlborough, Wilts, and plentifully in some parts of North
Wales; apparently rare in South Wales, but certainly existing in some
parts of the wooded districts skirting Milford Haven. Also recorded from
Worcestershire, and Cannock Chase in Staffordshire; and northward in the
favoured districts of Grange and Silverdale in North Lancashire, and
Witherslack in Westmoreland." As Surrey is not quoted in the foregoing,
it may be mentioned as one of the counties in which the species is
found. In Ireland Kane says that it is "abundant in certain localities
in Munster; and in Co. Galway at Claring Bridge, and Oranmore; Cork;
Killoghrum Wood, Enniscorthy; Blarney, Killarney."
[Illustration: _Pl._ 94.
=Brown Hairstreak.= 1, _male_; 2, 3 _female_.
=White-letter Hairstreak.= 4, 6 _male_; 5, 7 _female_.]
[Illustration: _Pl._ 95.
=White-letter Hairstreak.= _Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._
=Brown Hairstreak.= _Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._]
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