The story from around Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire by Tom Dunbar

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Tom Dunbar is a member of the Upper Thames Branch.

Success story 2006!

This butterfly was thought by many to be a certainty for extinction following the ravages over successive decades since 1970 of Dutch elm disease on one of its larval foodplant, elm.

There is evidence that the species is doing surprisingly well. It is thought to be seriously under recorded across its range, partly due to its secretive lifestyle atop the elms in the earlier phase of its adult life. There is evidence that once mating has been completed the butterfly becomes more accessible, coming down to nectar plants such as thistle.

In 2006 I made a concerted effort to build on my poor knowledge of the range of this butterfly in my area of Buckinghamshire. I believe that I looked for this species too late in former years. A good friend with much experience of this species in South London and Surrey corrected me in stating that Satyrium w-album in fact has an overlap with the Black Hairstreak adult flight period and is on the elms in June.

This was key to my approach this year as well as building an awareness of the presence of healthy elms well in advance of the emergence of the adult butterfly. This monitoring of healthy elm will be an ongoing effort over the coming years as elms can quickly succumb to DED. I was very pleased to locate several new colonies this year, eight in all.

Unfortunately my field trips are restricted at this time of year to the homeward car journey from work. However the familiar journey allowed me to build a picture of available healthy elms over preceding months, albeit from the car. I find that once likely elm is located more suitable specimens are often apparent on roadsides and adjacent fields. July 1st was peak day for me this year with 34 individuals between 3 sites close to Aylesbury. However the following day was my most rewarding with a single adult White Letter Hairstreak on a 'juvenile' elm near Wendover, a success at last on a tree I had checked out over the previous three years. It was sad to note that by August there were signs of DED on that very tree. I believe that the White Letter Hairstreak is a butterfly that is often overlooked.

I hope to build on my small successes this year over the coming seasons.

White-letter hairstreak records in the Aylesbury area 2006 recorded by Tom Dunbar

Location	Grid Reference	Dates	Number seen
Great Missenden	SP899010	29 June 2006	3
Wendover Railway Bridge	SP873068	29 June 2006	2
Woodrow Roadside	SU932963	30 June 2006	4
Woodrow Roadside	SU934964	30 June 2006	1
Broughton Field	SP840145	1 July 2006	10
Fleet Marston including A41 hedge	SP780157	1 July 2006	9
A41/Berryfields Junction	SP792154	1 July 2006	15
Chalkshire Road	843072	2 July 2006	1
Woodham Industrial Approach	SP714185	25 June 2006	3

White-letter Hairstreak distribution (2km squares) around Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire) for 2006 Reference: Tom Dunbar personal records

Tom Dunbar
First published in the Upper Thames Branch newsletter No. 69 February 2007