The green hairstreak (''Callophrys rubi'') is a small

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of ...

Etymology

The genus name ''

Callophrys The genus ''Callophrys'' consists of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is apparently not monophyletic, but which of the taxa currently considered junior synonyms of ''Callophrys'' are valid genera remains to be determined. The Asian and Eu ...

'' is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name ''rubi'' derives from ''

Rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. ...

'' (bramble), one of the host plants.

Subspecies

*''Callophrys rubi rubi'' Europe, Caucasus,

Kopet Dag The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh (; ), also known as the Turkmen-Khorasan Mountain Range, is a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran that extends about along the border southeast of the Caspian Sea, stretching nort ...

*''Callophrys rubi fervida'' Staudinger, 1901 Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, Asia Minor *''Callophrys rubi borealis'' Krulikovsky, 1890

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

*''Callophrys rubi sibirica'' Heyne, 895/small> Tien-Shan, Altai, Siberia,

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykal'ye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal at the south side of the eastern Si ...

, Far East,

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

(

Outer Manchuria Outer Manchuria, sometimes called Russian Manchuria, refers to a region in Northeast Asia that is now part of the Russian Far East but historically formed part of Manchuria (until the mid-19th century). While Manchuria now more normatively refer ...

Ussuri The Ussuri ( ; ) or Wusuli ( ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China in the province of Heilongjiang. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and formi ...

and

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

."''Callophrys'' Billberg, 1820"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Description

''Callophrys rubi'' has a wingspan reaching about in length. The oversides of the wings are a uniform dull brown, with two paler patches on the male's forewings made up of scent scales. The undersides are a bright green with a thin white line, often reduced to a faint row of dots or even missing altogether. The iridescent green colour of the undersides is a structural colour caused by

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

and interference of light by microscopic repeating structures forming a

diffraction grating In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical grating with a periodic structure that diffraction, diffracts light, or another type of electromagnetic radiation, into several beams traveling in different directions (i.e., different diffractio ...

in the wing scales.Morris R.B. (1975) Iridescence from diffraction structures in the wing scales of ''Callophrys rubi'', the Green Hairstreak. Journal of Entomology (A) 49, 149-154. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s are green with yellow markings along the back. Like other members of the family they are rather sluglike.

Description in Seitz

T. rubi L. (72 e). Above black-brown with white fringes; male with a scent-patch on the forewing below the costa in the centre. Beneath green, with some white dots on the disc of the hindwing. In ab. ''immaculata'' Fuchs (72 e) these white dots are absent, while they form a complete row in ab. ''punctata'' Tutt. which is even continued on to the forewing. Numerous modifications in the degree of completeness or obsolescence of the row have received names (''caecus'', ''incompleta'', ''bipuncata'', etc.), such individual aberrations occurring all among specimens of the nymotypical race. — ''borealis'' Krul, ow ''C. r. borealis'' Krulikovsky, 1890from Kasan, is somewhat smaller, being more yellowish green and without the white dots of the nymotypical form. — ''polaris'' Moschl 'C. r. borealis'' Krulikovsky, 1890 from the most northern districts of the area of distribution , is a small form, with the underside duller green. — ''sibirica'' Ruhl 'C. r. sibirica'' (Rühl, 1895)differs in almost the same way, the underside being less bright green than in ''rubi rubi''; Northern Asia. — ''fervida'' Stgr. 'C. r. fervida'' Staudinger, 1901(72 f) is a southern form, the upperside being paler brown with a golden sheen (unfortunately not distinct in our figure). — ''suaveola'' Stgr. ow species ''Callophrys suaveola'' (Staudinger, 1881)(72 f), from Central Asia, is as large as the largest European specimens, the upperside darker, the underside deeper green. From Saisan and Lepsa; as true ''rubi'' also occurs in these localities, ''suaveola'' may turn out to be the summer-brood. — There occur, moreover, a number of individual varieties; for instance, specimens with the underside brown instead of green, females with a reddish yellow discal spot on the forewing above (Blachier), etc. Egg depressed , green, reticulate. Larva dark green, with a black-edged yellow dorsal line accompanied by pale spots, and with a yellowish side-line. It feeds in June and the autumn particularly on Papilionaceae, such as ''Sarothamnus, Genista, Cytisus'', but also on many other plants, as oak, ''Vaccinium, Sedum'', etc. It often bores deep into the flowers of ''Genista''. Pupa short, much rounded; resembling a small bean, immovable, but nevertheless producing a feeble noise, which Kleemann calls creaking,Schilde twittering or chirping. The butterflies occur from April into July and in warmer districts of the plains again in July and August, the two broods being almost continuous, for instance at Darmstadt. They are very plentiful in most places and always rest with closed wings on shrubs and green twigs of Genista; they are not shy, the spring-specimens being particularly fond of the flowers of ''Potentilla''. Adalbert Seitz">Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Life cycle and behavior

These butterflies can be found at the end of March, with flight time usually lasting until the end of June, but they are sometimes seen in July and early August. They never rest with their wings open, to maintain their green camouflage.Eurobutterflies
/ref> The males exhibit territorial behavior. The eggs are laid singly. The caterpillars are not known to be tended by ants, unlike some lycid larvae, but the pupae, which are formed at ground level, emit squeaks that attract ants and it is thought that ants will always bury any that are found. Green hairstreaks overwinter as pupae and are univoltine, having one generation of adult butterflies per year. The larva is recorded as feeding on ''Vaccinium myrtillus'', ''Vaccinum uliginosum'', ''Betula'', ''Rubus idaeus'', ''Vicia cracca'', '' Trifolium medium'', ''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...

'', ''

Frangula ''Frangula'' is a genus of about 35 species of flowering shrubs or small trees, commonly known as alder buckthorn in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The common name buckthorn is also used to describe species of the genus '' Rhamnus'' in the same ...

'', '' Rhamnus'', ''

Ribes ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and White ...

'', ''

Spiraea ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species

'', ''

Caragana ''Caragana'' is a genus of about 80–100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to Asia and eastern Europe. They are shrubs or small trees growing tall. They have even-pinnate leaves with small leaflets, and solitary or cl ...

'', ''

Chamaecytisus ''Chamaecytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 43 species which range from the Canary Islands and Morocco through mainland Europe to western Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, Anatolia, and the easter ...

'', ''

Hedysarum ''Hedysarum'' (sweetvetch) is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbs found in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America. Description Species within genus ''Hedysarum'' may be h ...

'', '' Genista'', ''

Trifolium Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversity ...

'' and ''

Hippophae rhamnoides ''Hippophae rhamnoides'', also known as sea buckthorn, sandthorn, sallowthorn or seaberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeagnaceae, native to cold-temperate regions of Eurasia. It is a spiny deciduous shrub. The plant is used ...

'' in different parts of its range. This polyphagous species probably has one of the largest range of food plants of any British butterfly. Early butterfly collectors thought that the only food plant was

bramble ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, most commonly known as brambles. Fruits of various species are known as raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, and bristleberries. I ...

(blackberry) ''Rubus fruticosus'' but as its habits became better understood the list grew and will probably continue to do so. Depending on the habitat it will use common rock rose ''Helianthemum nummularium'',

bird's-foot trefoil ''Lotus corniculatus'' is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae. Common names include common bird's-foot trefoil, eggs and bacon, birdsfoot deervetch, and just bird's-foot trefoil (a name also often applied to other ''Lotus'' spp.). It ha ...

''Lotus corniculatus'',

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...

''Ulex europaeus'',

broom A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a ...

''Cytisus scoparius'', Dyer's greenweed ''Genista tinctoria'',

bilberry Bilberries () are Eurasian low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bear edible, dark blue berries. They resemble but are distinct from North American blueberries. The species most often referre ...

''Vaccinium myrtillus'',

dogwood ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...

''Cornus sanguinea'',

buckthorn ''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 140 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found thr ...

''Rhamnus cathartica'', cross-leaved heath ''Erica tetralix'' and bramble.

Habitat

The wide range of food plants means that this butterfly is able to use a wide range of habitats including chalk downland, heathland, moorland and clearings in woodland. It is present in wetlands as well as on poor dry meadows, at an elevation of about .

Distribution

''Callophrys rubi'' is found in most of Europe,Fauna europaea
/ref>

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, Amurland,

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

and

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

. It is still widespread across most of the UK, although many colonies have been lost in recent years. In Mediterranean countries it is quite localised and it is usually found near the coasts.

References

Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1345952 Callophrys Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Etymology

Subspecies

Description

Description in Seitz

Life cycle and behavior

Habitat

Distribution

See also

References