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| We always felt we might be in the right area of the country to see a White Letter Hairstreak but because of the dependence of its caterpillar on elm trees, which suffered greatly as a result of Dutch Elm Disease, we were not confident we would ever see one. It would appear however that the White Letter can adapt to new sucker regrowth, which we have plenty of. While it is unlikely that the one which visited us was local to our meadow, despite the elm regrowth, its appearance is certainly encouraging. |
| "Our" Hairstreak was seen in July 2019, resting and taking nectar on an extensive growth of yarrow along the track of one of the previous year's meadow paths, where it stayed for over half an hour. Its size and colour made it obvious it was something different from our usual species but to have spotted such an unusual butterfly by casual observation while simply strolling back to the house was a considerable surprise - but a very pleasant one! |
| The name comes from the "W" formed by the thin white lines at the very base of the folded wings. This is not at all clear, as the W is right on the edge of the wing and has one "stroke" very much shorter than the other, but it is there! The projection from the wing at around the same place indicates the sex - the short projection, as on this example, shows it is a male. |
