61.004 .... B&F 1557
Purple Hairstreak Favonius quercus (Linnaeus, 1758) .... Formerly known as Neozephyrus quercus
Status .....Generally widespread, though not across all parts of Nottinghamshire, the Purple Hairstreak's arboreal habits make it very much an under-recorded butterfly. It probably occurs in all decent sized woods, where it goes unnoticed. The adults rarely descend from the upper reaches of Oak, but males will often occur around Ash (Fraxinus) or other adjacent trees, utilising them as perches from which to wait for females or chase away rival males. On very hot afternoons, adults will sometimes descend to lower levels for a period of time. There is an indication that the butterfly's numbers reached a low point during 2007 and 2008, but there have been signs of a slight recovery since.
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Adult female, reared ex-Sherwood Forest larva, photographed June 2020
 
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Early stages                            
Ova/egg on Oak Quercus robur. Photographed at Lound Wood December 2021.
 
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Newly hatched larva (1.3mm) on Oak Quercus robur. Photographed at Lound Wood near Eakring, March 12th 2022
 
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Part-grown larva on Oak Quercus robur. Photographed in captivity March 2022
 
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Full-grown larva on Oak Quercus robur. Photographed at Sherwood Forest CP May 2020
 
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Pupa. Photographed at Sherwood Forest CP May 2020
 
 
Nottinghamshire (VC56) distribution of Purple Hairstreak
 
 
 
 
The records for the Nottinghamshire distribution map are currently provided by the following contributors - Richard Rogers. Trevor and Dilys Pendleton. Netherfield Wildlife Group. Stuart Warrington. The National Trust (Clumber Park invertebrate records). NBGRC. Lound Moth Group. Graham Birkett. Brian Wetton. Nick and Samantha Brownley.

You can contribute your own records to help us gain an accurate status of this species in Nottinghamshire. Send an Excel spreadsheet of your records via the 'contact us' link at the top of the homepage.

Updated January 2024

copyright © Trevor and Dilys Pendleton (www.eakringbirds.com) . .
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