White-letter Hairstreak (Satyrium w-album)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - butterfly > Butterfly |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Satyrium w-album |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Knoch, 1782) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Fox & Dennis, 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | GB Red List (Fox et al. 2022): VU. Statistically significant 78% decline in abundance since 1976 and a 27% short-term (10 year 2010-2019) decline; 2% long-term decline in distribution since 2002 and a 1% short-term decline (Fox et al. 2023) |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | White-letter Hairstreak is widely distributed in England, local in Wales and has recently been recorded for the first time in the far south of Scotland. It previously qualified as Endangered in 2010 on the basis of abundance decrease, but current (2010-2019) trend estimates for both abundance and distribution do not exceed any threat category thresholds. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Planting of appropriate disease resistant Elm trees, particularly Wych Elm near to existing colonies |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.