Filming VarWild: Callophrys avis

Chapman's Green Hairstreak (Callophrys avis (Chapman, 1909))

Chapman's Green Hairstreak belongs to the family Lycaenidae: Theclinae. This Mediterranean butterfly is very localized in the maquis in the PACA region. In France the most important populations are in the massif of the Maures and in the garrigues of the Gard. This beautiful emerald green butterfly flies in a single generation between mid-March and early May. The most important food-plant is the Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo). From this species the chrysalis overwinter into the leaf-litter.

Recently, on 25th July 2017, severe forest fires unfortunately devasted thousands of hectares near Bormes-les-Mimosas where we filmed the life-cycle of Chapman’s Green Hairstreak. By now the chrysalis are hidden in the leaf-litter but there is no certainty that they will have survived the heat. Next year will reveal whether or not the population has survive.

Little is known of its parasitoids except for a single rearing of the braconid Cotesia inducta, which parasitises several other Lycaenidae, and the very polyphagous tachinid Compsilura concinnata.