It could be found in Bentley Wood, and Botley Wood where old Wych Elms managed to avoid the Dutch Elm disease, also roundabouts in Southampton and Basingstoke and at North Harbour in Portsmouth seem to be the 'hot-spots' and Newport on the Isle of Wight, where Wych Elm seems to sucker and exist in small numbers, helping this butterfly to breed in small isolated colonies. The species can be found in hedgerows where its foodplant Wych Elms grow. The species declined during the 1970s when its foodplants were reduced by Dutch Elm Disease, but it seems now to be recovering in some areas. Adults are difficult to see because they spend so much time in the tree canopy, although they occasionally come to ground level to nectar on flowers near elm trees or scrub saplings. The dark upper sides are seen only in flight as the butterflies always settle with their wings closed.
It is distinguished by a strongly-defined white 'W' mark across the undersides. The White-letter Hairstreak is a small butterfly with an erratic, spiralling flight typical of the hairstreaks.
#Black and white butterfly with half wing flowers mod
The biggest woodland colony is on the MOD ranges at Porton Down (see separate page on Porton Down on the Sites page) and still exists on private estates in and around Stockbridge, where its foodplant Primrose grows in coppiced stands of Hazel and Oak. This species is not common in woodland, as we have lost it from some of the major woodland complexes like the New Forest, around Winchester, Andover, and the south around Botley and Buriton. (There are more pages on this species especially on the Chalk Downland where this butterfly is more common in Hampshire). It has declined substantially in recent decades, especially in woodlands. The Duke of Burgundy is found in scattered colonies across southern England. The females are elusive and spend much of their time resting or flying low to the ground looking for suitable egg-laying sites of Cowslip on chalk downland.
The adults rarely visit flowers and most sightings are of the territorial males as they perch on a prominent leaf at the edge of scrub. This small butterfly frequents scrubby grassland and sunny woodland clearings, typically in very low numbers. Havant Thicket and Staunton Country Park.Butterfly walks in Hampshire& Isle of Wi.
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