Purple Hairstreak, looking dark brown, with wings fully open

Purple Hairsteak. Photo: Richard Belding

The Purple Hairstreaks at our Alners Gorse Butterfly Reserve are being very obliging – it’s rare to be able to catch photos like this.Taken on 10/07/2017.

A photo of a Purple Hairstreak with open wings we published a few days ago looked quite purply-blue, so it’s interesting to see this one, which looks such a plain brown. It is presumably a female, though they usually have a purple streak on the forewing. The angle at which the photo is taken can make quite a difference.

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