Green Hairstreak  |  Callophrys rubi

Species Action Plan

Author: Melanie Penson & Kayleigh Woodhouse
Lead agency: East Midlands Butterfly Conservation
Publication date: February 2024
Planned review date: 2026

Current status

Across Europe, the Green Hairstreak is a widespread species, present from the North Mediterranean to Swedish Lapland. Although the Green Hairstreak is widespread across Britain, populations have seen local declines. The species favours warm, open areas, generally with sheltered patches of scrub. These include woodland rides, rough grassland, railway cuttings, heathland and old quarries. In Nottinghamshire, the Green Hairstreak is predominantly associated with brownfield sites such as pit tips, disused railways, quarries, gravel pits and other post-industrial sites. It has more than 50 recorded larval food plants including Gorse and Broom, though eggs have only been found on Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil in Nottinghamshire.

Butterfly Conservation report that in England, the Green Hairstreak declined by 41% in abundance, and 30% in distribution between 1976-20191. The species was categorised as “Medium Priority Regionally Important” in Nottinghamshire in 2014, using criteria established by Butterfly Conservation.

Prior to 2003, the Green Hairstreak had been recorded in 14 1km squares in Nottinghamshire, this however increased to 57 1km squares in the period 2014 to 2023. Although nationally there has been a decline in Green Hairstreak distribution, the records from Nottinghamshire (from the Nottinghamshire Biological and Geological Records Centre, the County Recorder and Butterfly Conservation East Midland’s branch) suggest an increase in their distribution, however it is much more likely to show an increase in recorder effort in recent years, as the species was particularly under-recorded in the past.

Period Pre-2003 2004-2013 2014-2023
No. of 5km squares 13 8 23
No. of 1km squares 14 13 57

 

Targets

  1. Maintain the current (2014-2023) distribution of the species
  2. Increase distribution to 58 1km squares by 2026

Threats

  • Loss of sites, particularly brownfield (post-industrial sites), to development
  • Lack of habitat management, with a loss of open areas due to scrub encroachment
  • Nitrogen deposition accelerating growth of nutrient-demanding plants (coarse grasses, docks, nettles)
  • Small and isolated population size making colonies vulnerable to loss and limiting the chance of recolonisation

Current initiatives

  • The Green Hairstreak is a species of recognised county scarcity; one that has experienced significant county decline and is considered vulnerable, making it a focus for conservation action at a county level
  • A Severn Trent funded project, Butterfly Mosaics, co-ordinated by Butterfly Conservation East Midlands. This project focuses on targeted management works to benefit key species including Green Hairstreak. The funding is in place from 2022 until March 2025.
  • Surveying and mapping of Green Hairstreak by amateur naturalists is being encouraged by East Midlands Butterfly Conservation, and it is intended that this will continue and be more targeted in future years
  • Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust are encouraging the recording of Green Hairstreak through the Miner2Major project
  • Private and public landowners will be made aware of the presence of Green Hairstreak on their land, and given management advice on how best to manage habitat for this species

Proposed action

Policy and legislation

  • Nothing proposed

Site safeguard and management

  • Determine ownership of all known sites for the species and inform landowners of their conservation importance
  • Seek to establish and implement short management plans for all sites that hold Green Hairstreak
  • Identify potential sites for colonisation and ensure that they are brought into suitable condition
  • Protect all known sites supporting the species from damaging development

Species management and protection

  • Ensure that larval food plants are present on potential sites for colonisation

Advisory

  • Produce Information for site managers, which details habitat management for the Green Hairstreak

Future research and monitoring

  • Contact recorders across the county to ensure that all known and potential Green Hairstreak sites are visited, and accurate records are submitted
  • Establish annual timed counts at keys sites to measure year on year variations in population size
  • Establish habitat suitability criteria and apply findings to historic sites

Communications and publicity

  • Promote the value brownfield sites have for Green Hairstreak (and other notable species)

What you can do

First published in 2022 – original authors: Melanie Penson & Emma Gilbert

1 The State of UK Butterflies 2022. Butterfly Conservation: State of UK Butterflies 2022 Report.pdf (butterfly-conservation.org)

Green Hairstreak © Mark Searle