Provence hairstreak
The Provence hairstreak is a small butterfly that comes out very early in the year. The male is dark brown with tiny red spots, and the bigger female has bright orange-red front wings. Underneath, its back wings have a dusting of green.
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Fun facts
It flies from January to April, when most other butterflies are still asleep.
If you catch it in a net, it often drops to the ground and hides in the grass.
Its caterpillar lives inside the seed pods of its food plant.
It lays its round, green eggs one at a time on leaves.
Where its food plant grows, there can be very many of them.
Most asked questions about Provence hairstreak
?When does the Provence hairstreak fly?
Very early, from January to April.
?Where does the Provence hairstreak live?
In Spain, Portugal, North Africa and along the Mediterranean coast of France.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Tomares ballus
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa
- Also known as
- Cardenillo
Where the facts come from
- Tomares ballus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hinox. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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