The West Country

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An area on the edge of the species' range

The White-letter Hairstreak is still recorded in Devon and Somerset but there have been no records from Cornwall since the 1980s. However, even in Devon, the species appears to be very localised and there are many areas where the species has not been recorded for some years. In the summer and winter of 2008 and spring 2009, Andrew Middleton and Liz Goodyear, visited the area to try and find out why.

Distribution map based on records in the Butterfly Conservation national data base, Devon Branch website (2008) and Andrew Middleton and Liz Goodyear personal records from 2008 and 2009.

Reproduced from 'Miniscale' Ordnance Survey maps by kind permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. (c) Crown copyright 2009 All rights reserved. Licence number AL 100015237

It is understood that Dutch Elm Disease [DED] ripped through Devon and Cornwall in the 1970s. We feel that unlike other areas of the country, where the species had potential to move around and disperse to healthy elm, the White-letter Hairstreak, found itself with no where to go. However, even before DED, reports were restricted to only a handful of sites despite the probablility that there was sufficient elm to support the butterfly.

The Cornish elm was known to suffer badly from the effects of DED and we have been told that no mature trees survived. However, we have also been told the White-letter Hairstreak does not breed on Cornish elm?

Throughout our visits to Devon and Cornwall we have looked at many of the historic areas and tried to find good examples of healthy elm throughout the county, which if we were in the south east of England would without doubt support a colony of White-letter Hairstreak. We have also sampled for eggs on many of these examples but did not find any white-letter eggs!

We have been very lucky and found eggs at Porlock on the Somerset / Devon border and in the Lynton Gorge. Neither of the areas had had reports of White-letter Hairstreak for about 20 years (Diane Andrews had a adult sighting at Porlock in 2007). However, attempts to find the butterfly at Torpoint where there is a large amount of elm proved negative despite an egg being found less than 2 miles away at Bere Ferrers on the other side of the Tamar. There is still elm at Veryan where the last Cornish records came from and in the Camel Valley although much of the elm near Bude has gone (historic area).

With the help of the Cornwall Branch we hope to visit Cornwall during the 2009 flight period with priority being given to watching elm on Torpoint, Veryan, the Camel Valley and close to Falmouth. We would suggest that coastal areas or river valleys (preferably limestone) with large leaved elms have the greatest potential. This would also apply to the north Cornish/Devon coast.

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Liz Goodyear and Andrew Middleton
June 2009