Brown hairstreak

Appearance

A little butterfly that is found along hedges, scrub, and wood edges but is often overlooked since it spends much of its time high in the tree canopy. Like the purple emperor this butterfly uses 'master trees', usually European ash ''Fraxinus excelsior''. Males and unmated females congregate at the tops of isolated trees. Once mated the female descends to lower levels to begin laying her eggs. males rarely descend and both feed mainly on honey dew. Both sexes are dark brown on the upperside with orange tails. The female also has a bright orange band across both forewings. The undersides are similar in both sexes and are bright orange with two white streaks.

Naming

*''T. b. betulae'' Europe, N.Caucasus, Saur, Tarbagatai, Dzhungarsky Alatau, Siberia, Amur, Ussuri. Larva on ''Prunus spinosa'', ''Crataegus sanguinea'',
⤷ ''T. b. crassa'' Leech, 1894 S.Ussuri Larva on ''Padus asiatica'', ''Armeniaca mandschurica''
⤷ ''T. b. ongodai'' Tutt Altai
⤷ ''T. b. coreana'' Korea Larva on Fabaceae
⤷ ''T. b. elwesi'' Leech, 1890 West China, Central China
⤷ ''T. b. yiliguozigounae'' Huang & Murayama, 1992 China

Behavior

A little butterfly that is found along hedges, scrub, and wood edges but is often overlooked since it spends much of its time high in the tree canopy. Like the purple emperor this butterfly uses 'master trees', usually European ash ''Fraxinus excelsior''. Males and unmated females congregate at the tops of isolated trees. Once mated the female descends to lower levels to begin laying her eggs. males rarely descend and both feed mainly on honey dew. Both sexes are dark brown on the upperside with orange tails. The female also has a bright orange band across both forewings. The undersides are similar in both sexes and are bright orange with two white streaks.

Food

In Europe the female lays her eggs on blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'' in late August which overwinter, hatching the following spring when the buds are breaking. It has been found that the best way to find breeding sites for this species is to look for the conspicuous white eggs in the winter. The larvae are extremely well camouflaged and feed only at night, remaining motionless during the day. Pupation takes place in leaf litter on the ground in late June or early July and are attractive to ants who will bury them in shallow cells.