Butterflies
Skippers
Whites
Hairstreaks
Blues and Coppers
Admirals
Vannesids
Fritallaries
Browns
Wingspan 30mm
Butterfly Survey 1976-2025
Green hairstreak Callophrys rubi
.jpg)
.jpg)
Butterfly images showing forms of spot distribution
One of my favourites, this is a butterfly of remarkable camouflage and catholic habits, the larvae feeding on a whole host of foodplants. However, in the areas that the survey covers it was most prolific to the scrub infested hillsides around Eynsford, Shoreham and Otford, where it is most closely associated with dogwood. In this situation the butterfly can be detected with careful observation on various species of low bushes and trees. It can also appear in downland meadows associated with the larval foodplant. I have recorded this butterfly from late April onwards and it is present at High Elms and also present in Bromley Common and Bickley. Fackenden Bank between White Hill and Fackenden Down was the most prolific spot, . Also present, year after year, in the Upper Meadow on the Dunsany estate. In 2024 it was also present in the hedgerow at home, which combine blackthorn, dogwood and ash.
Habit: male and female similar, but the distinctive arc of spots can be absent or present as just one spot. The butterfly has an erratic whirling flight and frequently comes to rest with wings closed - easily overlooked.
Single brooded: over winters as a brown pupa, which can be found loosely attached to dead leaves. Second brood has been seen in rare summers, like September 2025 in other parts of the UK.
Larval Foodplant: Buckthorn, bramble, rock rose, whortle berry, bird's foot trefoil, but in our area, rarely on gorse or broom and dyer's greenweed.
WH - White Hill Shoreham, BR Bromley wider BC - Bromley Common, Ha Hayes --BN Bromley North - Ey Eynsford - Orp Orpington BIC - Bickley
Status: not under threat in our area - numbers fluctuating year by year.
By Rodney Compton