Favonius Quercus
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The purple hairstreak (''Favonius quercus'') is a
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 ...
distributed throughout much of Europe,
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 ...
,
Anatolia 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 ...
, Caucasia, and
Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...
. The larva feeds on ''
Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
'', ''
Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ...
'', ''
Quercus cerris ''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, ...
'' and ''
Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the holly oak, also (ambiguously, as many oaks are evergreen) evergreen oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the section (botany), section ''List of Quercus species#Section Ilex, Il ...
''.


Subspecies

*''F. quercus quercus'' (
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758)
- widespread *''F. quercus iberica'' ( Staudinger, 1901) - Morocco, Algeria, Iberia *''F. quercus interjectus'' ( Verity, 1919) - Italy *''F. quercus longicaudatus'' (
Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...
, 1921)
- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, West Iran


Description in Seitz

''Z. quercus'' L. (74 c, d). male above with a blue gloss and narrow black distal border, the female with the basal area of the forewing blue and often the cell of the hindwing bluish. Underside leaden-grey, with a proximally dark-edged white line before the outer third and in the anal area of the hindwing weak yellow spots. ab. ''obsoleta'' Tutt are females without any blue gloss; there occur also transitional specimens with the blue reduced (''semiobsoleta''). ab. ''pallescens'' Tutt are males with a pale grey greenish instead of blue gloss. In ab. ''excessus'' Tutt the hindmargin of the forewing bears a coppery streak. Courvoisier proposes the name ab. ''latefasciata'' for specimens with broader white line on the underside, ab. ''bellus'' Gerh. (74 d) are females with small orange spots at the apex of the cell of the forewing, which are reduced to two spots in ab. ''bipunctatus'' Tutt and to one in ab. ''unipunctus'' Tutt. Widely distributed, occurring throughout Europe and Asia Minor from England and the Atlantic coast to Armenia and from North Europe to the Mediterranean — Beyond the Mediterranean Sea and on the Iberian Peninsula there occurs ''iberica'' Stgr. (74 d).Larger, above very dark, the blue area of the male very sharply defined but not very extended. Underside paler silvery grey, the whitish line therefore being less prominent. — Egg semiglobular, whitish grey, granulose. The larva, which is already developed in the summer, does not leave the egg before April; it bores into the young shoots and later lies on the young leaves, especially on those of the lower twigs of old oak-trees. It is a dreadful cannibal and is evidently avoided by insect-eating birds, as it has been found unmolested in the nest of the blue tit containing young birds (Bingham-Newland). On the other hand it is much infested with ichneumons, as well as a species of ''Tachina'', which develops after the pupation of the caterpillar (Steinfert). Adult yellowish brown with a reddish tint, on the back a row of triangles connected by a dark line, the sides greenish. On various species of oak, and said to occur also on other plants (''Myrica'', etc.); adult in July. The pupa rounded, brown, irregularly spotted with blackish, on the back three rows of dark spots. The butterflies occur from June till August everywhere in the plains and hills, but usually singly, in certain years more plentifully. They rest on the outer twigs of oak-bushes with the wings always closed, but sometimes flutter high up about the crowns of old oaks. Seitz, A. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)


Appearance, behaviour and distribution (British Isles)

This active little butterfly is most often seen fluttering around high up in
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
trees on warm sunny July and early August days. Males have a glossy purple sheen on the upperside, females have two patches on the forewing only. The underside is light grey with a white streak, edged in black, running down the middle of both wings. The hindwings have a short tail with two orange spots at the base on the underside. It is common and widespread across southern and central
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, becoming rarer and more isolated in the north as far as central
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. In
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
it occurs in a few isolated colonies scattered across the country but is probably still under recorded due to its reclusive habits. Males tend to stay high up in trees, females come down to lower levels to lay eggs. Both sexes feed mainly on honeydew although females are occasionally attracted to flowers whilst taking a break from egg laying.


Life cycle and foodplants

Eggs are laid singly at the base of oak buds in late summer ready to hatch the following spring as the buds break. Both sessile oak ''
Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Welsh oak, Cornish oak, Irish oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an un ...
'' and pedunculate oak ''
Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
'', Britain's two native oaks are used and also some introduced species such as Turkey oak ''
Quercus cerris ''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, ...
'' and evergreen oak ''
Quercus ilex ''Quercus ilex'', the holly oak, also (ambiguously, as many oaks are evergreen) evergreen oak, is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the section (botany), section ''List of Quercus species#Section Ilex, Il ...
''. In winter the eggs are easily found on close examination of bare branches. 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 ...
is fully developed inside the egg after two or three weeks but doesn't hatch until the spring whereupon it burrows into the flower buds to feed safely concealed. As it gets larger and the buds open it spins a silken retreat and feeds only at night.
Pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...
tion usually takes place in the
leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...
where it is tended by ants who bury them, but also sometimes in a crevice in the bark of the foodplant. There is one brood a year with adults on the wing in July and August. Image:Neozephyrus_quercus_eggs.jpg, Eggs Image:Quercusia.quercus.larva.1.jpg, Caterpillar Image:Neozephyrus_quercus-06_%28xndr%29.jpg, Male Image:Neozephyrus quercus (Purple hairstreak) male underside ab.jpg, Male Image:Neozephyrus quercus - Thécla du chêne - Femelle - MNHT.jpg, Female, mounted specimens Neozephyrus quercus-04 (xndr).jpg


See also

*
List of butterflies of Great Britain This is a list of butterfly, butterflies of Great Britain, including extinct, naturalised species and those of dubious origin. The list comprises butterfly species listed in ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' by Emmet ''et a ...


References


External links


Butterfly Conservation Armenia
{{Taxonbar, from=Q739454 Neozephyrus Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus