These Brown Hairstreaks certainly get around. It is often said that looking for Brown Hairstreaks is like waiting for a bus with nothing much happening for several hours then two turning up at once. Redditch Council has now gone one step further by providing the Brown Hairstreak with its own bus shelter (photo courtesy of Wayne Beard, Redditch Borough Council). This rather fetching mural has been provided for the bus travellers of Winyates Green on the outskirts of Redditch and was produced as part of the town's Britain in Bloom entry. The mural celebrates the Brown Hairstreak's arrival in north-east Worcestershire, a feat already chronicled on this site. So something to savour while waiting for the next bus to the town centre and hopefully something which will encourage local residents to keep a look out for Brown Hairstreaks in the area.
Meanwhile, down in Surrey we can report another possible first for the Brown Hairstreak with an appearance in a moth trap in Chessington. Jim Porter found a male in his 125W MVL Robinson trap on the night of 9/10 August. Apparently, eggs have been previously recorded about a mile from the house but the fact that it was a male and the slightly worn nature of Jim's photo perhaps suggests an assembly tree closer to home. Certainly, it appears, like Worcs, that the Brown Hairstreak is doing well in Surrey and expanding its range. Nevertheless, to turn up in a moth trap is highly unusual. I have certainly heard of Purple Hairstreaks being recorded at light especially when mothing within a wood but never before a Brown Hairstreak.
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