Strange behaviour of the Hairstreak Neozephyrus quercus

It is now the hottest July in the U. K. for years. Working outside I am really feeling the effect of the heat. Walking through a large forest recently looking for grounded Apatura iris, I saw a pond with very muddy margins. I thought this would be a good place to check for iris but drew a blank. Sitting here, I was surprised to see a N. quercus [ Purple Hairstreak ] land to mud puddle and later another came. Although it can be common the Purple Hairstreak spends most of its time at the top of oaks and thus rarely seen unless looked for. Mud puddling for this species in the U.K must be a very rare event that happens only in the hottest weather. A friend of many years experience in the field studying butterflies has only seen this behaviour once way back in the boiler of 1976.


N quercus visiting mud for moisture.