Neozephrus quercus
Photo By Barry Watts
Wingspan Male 33 -40mm Female 31 - 38mm
Description Our largest hairstreak and one of the most abundant, it can be elusive as it spends most of its time in the canopy of oak trees. At a distance the butterfly looks either grey if resting with wings closed (underwings) or dark if basking and you see the upperwings. These fast-flying butterflies look silvery against the canopy.
Your photographs
Flight Period
Late June to mid-September
Larval Food plants
Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur)
Sessile Oak (Quercus petrae)
Turkey Oak (Quercus cerris)
Evergreen Oak (Quercus ilex)
Habitat
Oak woodland, parks and hedgerows with oak
Status
Resident, widespread and locally common
Earliest Sightings
Earliest county record: 13th June 2011 Bentley Wood (David Lambert)
Latest county record
25th September 1958