Green hairstreak
| Green hairstreak | |
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| Near Aston Upthorpe, Oxfordshire, England | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Callophrys |
| Species: | C. rubi |
| Binomial name | |
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Callophrys rubi (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The green hairstreak (Callophrys rubi) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.
The genus name Callophrys is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name rubi derives from Rubus (bramble), one of the host plants.
Callophrys rubi has a wingspan reaching about 26–30 millimetres (1.0–1.2 in). The upperside of the wings is 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 and interference of light by microscopic repeating structures in the wing scales. The caterpillars are green with yellow markings along the back. Like other members of the family they are rather sluglike.
These butterflies can be found at the end of March, the flight time usually extend until the end of June, but sometime they were seen in July and early August. They never rest with their wings open, in order to keep their green camouflage. The males show a territorial behavior.
The eggs are laid singly. The caterpillars are not known to be tended by ants like some lycid larvae but the pupae, which are formed at ground level, emit squeaks which 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, Frangula, Rhamnus, Ribes, Spiraea, Caragana, Chamaecytisus, Hedysarum, Genista, Trifolium and Hippophae rhamnoides in different parts of its range.
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Wikipedia