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The green hairstreak (''Callophrys rubi'') is a small
The genus name '' Callophrys'' is a Greek word meaning "beautiful eyebrows", while the species Latin name ''rubi'' derives from ''
/ref>
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
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
/ref>
Lepiforum.de
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1345952 Callophrys Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...
in the family Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae is the second-largest 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 the known butterf ...
.
Etymology
The genus name '' Callophrys'' 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, with over 1,350 species.
Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of the ...
'' (bramble), one of the host plants.Learn About Butterflies/ref>
Subspecies
*''Callophrys rubi rubi'' Europe, Caucasus,Kopet Dag
The Köpet Dag, Kopet Dagh, or Koppeh Dagh ( tk, Köpetdag; fa, کپهداغ), 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 o ...
*''Callophrys rubi fervida'' Staudinger, 1901 Iberian Peninsula, Morocco, Asia Minor
*''Callophrys rubi borealis'' Krulikovsky, 1890 Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
*''Callophrys rubi sibirica'' Heyne, 895/small> Tien-Shan
The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
, Altai, Siberia, Transbaikalia
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia.
The steppe and ...
, Far East, Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...
, Ussuri
The Ussuri or Wusuli (russian: Уссури; ) is a river that runs through Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krais, Russia and the southeast region of Northeast China. It rises in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range, flowing north and forming part of the ...
and Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh ...
."''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 and interference of light by microscopic repeating structures forming adiffraction grating
In optics, a diffraction grating is an optical component with a periodic structure that diffracts light into several beams travelling in different directions (i.e., different diffraction angles). The emerging coloration is a form of structur ...
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 caterpillars are green with yellow markings along the back. Like other members of the family they are rather sluglike.
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
Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism.
...
, having one generation of adult butterflies per year.
The larva is recorded as feeding on ''Vaccinium myrtillus
''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...
'', '' Vaccinum uliginosum'', ''Betula
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 t ...
'', ''Rubus idaeus
''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in othe ...
'', ''Vicia cracca
''Vicia cracca'' (tufted vetch, cow vetch, bird vetch, blue vetch, boreal vetch), is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia. It occurs on other continents as an introduced species, includ ...
'', '' Trifolium medium'', '' Calluna vulgaris'', ''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 sam ...
'', '' 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 various species are known as currants or gooseberries, and some are cultivated for their edible ...
'', ''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 clu ...
'', ''Chamaecytisus
''Chamaecytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae. It may be a synonym (taxonomy), synonym of ''Cytisus''. ''Chamaecytisus palmensis, C. palmensis'' is a tree from the Canary Is ...
'', ''Hedysarum
''Hedysarum'' (sweetvetch) is a genus of the botanical family Fabaceae, consisting of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbs in Asia, Europe, North Africa, and North America.
Description
Species within genus ''Hedysarum'' may be herbace ...
'', ''Genista
Genista is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other genera, i ...
'', ''Trifolium
Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...
'' and ''Hippophae rhamnoides
''Hippophae rhamnoides'', also known as sea-buckthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeagnaceae, native to the cold-temperate regions of Europe and Asia. It is a spiny deciduous shrub. The plant is used in the food and cosmetic ...
'' 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
A bramble is any rough, tangled, prickly shrub, usually in the genus ''Rubus'', which grows blackberries, raspberries, or dewberries. "Bramble" is also used to describe other prickly shrubs, such as roses (''Rosa'' species). The fruits inclu ...
(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'', gorse ''Ulex europaeus'', broom
A broom (also known in some forms 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. I ...
''Cytisus scoparius'', Dyer's greenweed ''Genista tinctoria'', bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...
''Vaccinium myrtillus'', dogwood
''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shru ...
''Cornus sanguinea'', buckthorn ''Rhamnus cathartica'', cross-leaved heath
''Erica tetralix'', the cross-leaved heath, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ericaceae, native to western Europe, from southern Portugal to central Norway, as well as a number of boggy regions further from the coast in Central Europ ...
''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, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, Amurland, Baluchistan and Chitral. 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.
See also
*List of butterflies of Great Britain
This is a list of 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 al.'' and '' ...
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