(Esper, 1793)
Spanish Purple Hairstreak
Description:
The Spanish Purple Hairstreak occurs in damp, deciduous woods, on rough vegetation beside streams and rivers, and in parkland. The butterflies spend most of their time in the top of ash trees, the larval food plant, and are difficult to see. However, when they leave the tree in search of nectar, drinking from flowers growing at the edge of the woods or on broad verges, they are more noticeable. They are especially fond of the flowers of the umbellifer Thapsia.
The female lays her eggs on Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and other species of Fraxinus, such as Manna or Flowering Ash (F. ornus), and possibly also Common Privet (Ligustrum vulgare). The eggs remain on the tree for the rest of the summer, autumn and winter. The small caterpillars that emerge in the spring, feed on the flowers and new leaves of the food plants. They pupate among the leaf litter.
This species has one brood a year.
Habitat:
Tree lines and hedges
Water-fringe vegetations
Alluvial and very wet forest
Deciduous forests
Similar species:
Neozephyrus quercus