Green Hairstreak

[Wattsy]

On a walk at Rimac I saw 10 individuals all on sea buckthorn, is this a known foodplant for green hairstreak? I've found references to them using purging buckthorn but nothing about sea buckthorn

cheers
Matt

[Pete Eeles]

Do you mean as a larval foodplant? Were they egg laying? I can't see Elaeagnaceae listed in the database: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/ ... ort=Family

Cheers,

- Pete

[petesmith]

This is a subject that really justifies some serious investigation. Green Hairstreaks occur at a number of sites on the Lincolnshire coast, Rimac being but one of them. At pretty much all Lincolnshire coastal sites, they are almost always seen around Sea Buckthorn. The foodplants listed for this species are not especially common at these sites. Given that Green Hairstreaks can be quite numerous along this coastal stretch in many places, I have to suggest that Sea Buckthorn may be a potentially unrecorded foodplant here. What we need is some hard evidence of ovipositing females. Given the number of enthusiasts visiting these sites to see and photograph this species, it is surprising that no-one has any definitive sightings of egg-laying.

[Mikhail]

Moths and butterflies of Europe www.leps.it lists Sea buckthorn as a larval foodplant.

M

[petesmith]

Moths and butterflies of Europe www.leps.it lists Sea buckthorn as a larval foodplant.

M

Thanks Mikhail.
I thought that I had read it somewhere!
It seems highly likely to me that this is being used on the Lincolnshire coast.