Favonius quercus
This is a common species, but it is one that is easily over-looked, as the butterflies spend most of their lives high up in the canopy of Oak trees. Whilst these hairstreaks can be seen at any time of the day, they are most active in the evening between 6:00pm and 8:00pm, when other butterfly species have long since gone to roost. They mostly feed on honeydew, but they do occasionally come down to ground level where they feed on whatever nectar happens to be available, including Wild Privet, Hemp Agrimony, Cow Parsley and various thistles.
Purple Hairstreaks are relatively straightforward to identify as no other British hairstreak species have uppersides of blue or purple. On the undersides, there is a distinctive orange-spot next to a short tail.
There is one generation a year, and in the years 2006-2024 the “average first sighting” was June 21st (with an extraordinary range of May 15th to July 10th). Purple Hairstreaks peak in late June/early July, fly throughout most of August, with the occasional straggler surviving into September (as on 02/09/2021).
Any mature Oak tree in Sussex is quite likely to host a few Purple Hairstreaks but on the Knepp Estate they are very easy to see in good numbers, between TQ141213 and TQ134193.
Female Purple Hairstreak resting on Bracken – photo by David Cook
Male resting on Bracken – photo by David Cook
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A “distant view” of one feeding on Cow Parsley – photo by Martin Kalaher
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Hiding in the vegetation – photo by Dave Brown
Side view of an individual, resting on Bracken – photo by David Cook
On the ground, taking in salts and minerals – photo by Dave Brown
In the top 5, of the 2024 photo competition - photo by Paul Day
Nectaring on bramble blossom - photo by John Williams
Nectaring on thistle - photo by Patrick Moore
Butterfly Conservation Purple Hairstreak
