Code

Closed wings: All wings are brown and have a wavy white line, which goes across them and runs parallel to the outer margin. There is a tail, which looks like an antenna, above the hindwings anal angle. There is a blue spot under it. The hindwings outer margins have orange spots and a black inner part.

Open wings: This species never shows its inner part, which is dark brown. Its hindwings have small orange spots around the anal angle and above the false antenna, which cannot always be seen in the case of male butterflies. Female butterflies have an orange spot in the centre of the forewings.

Similar species

False Ilex Hairstreak: White lines are not as defined as in the case of the above species. Mostly, there is only a dotted line on the forewings and a broken line on the hindwings. There is no blue spot at the hindwings anal angle. It can hardly ever be seen with stretched wing, which are similar to the Blue Spot Hairstreak's wings.

Biology and Habitat

Blue Spot Hairstreaks fly in May, June and July, but above all in June. They take one generation a year to do so.

This species is typical for forests and scrubland, no matter whether they are dense or sparse. They are common in lower areas, as well as in high mountains in Málaga, where their caterpillars' foodplants, such as Rhamnus genus shrub plants like European Buckthorn (or Black Hawthorn) (Rhamnus lycioides) and Rhamnus myrtifolia, live too.

Distribution in the Great Path

These butterflies can be spotted along the greatest part of the GMP, though they are more probable to be found on the stages that go through mountains. They are rare at the coast and in the north of the province, where they live on scant local vegetation which is left in that zone.