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Lycaena nivalis Fabricius, 1807
Coppers; Lilac-Bordered Copper
Family: Lycaenidae (Gossamer Wings)
Species account authors: Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard.
Extracted from Butterflies of British Columbia.
Introduction to the Lepidoptera of BC
Introduction to the Butterflies of BC
The Families of Lepidoptera of BC

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Map

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Distribution of Lycaena nivalis in British Columbia.
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Source: Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Species Information


Adult

The Lilac-bordered Copper is easily distinguished from other butterflies by the appearance of the ventral hindwing, the outer half of which is lilac-coloured in the BC populations. The ventral hindwing also lacks the black spots found on most coppers and blues.

Immature Stages

Newcomer (1964c) redescribed the immatures. The egg is bluish white. The mature larva is pale green with a rose/claret dorsal line outlined by a thin white line on each side. The pupa is straw yellow.

Subspecies

BC populations are L.n. browni dos Passos, 1938 (TL: Montpelier, ID).

Genus Description


The name Lycaena is most likely derived from the Greek Lukaios (Arcadian), as several of the species names are those of Arcadian shepherds (Emmet 1991). The common name refers to the copper-coloured wings of most species. It was first used in North America by Emmons (1854).

The characteristics given for the subfamily also define the genus as used in BC. The larvae of northern Palearctic species all feed on plants of the family Polygonaceae, such as Rumex (dock/sorrel) and Polygonum (knotweed). Most North American species also feed on these genera, but some feed on Eriogonum or Oxyria (Polygonaceae), Potentilla (Rosaceae), and Vaccinium (Ericaceae). There are 15 North American species, of which nine occur in BC.

Biology


Adults of the Lilac-bordered Copper fly from late May to mid-August, depending on the elevation of the population but for about three weeks only at anyone locality. The Lilac-bordered Copper overwinters as an egg and completes larval development the following spring. So far, only Polygonum douglasii has been recorded as a larval foodplant, in both California and Washington (Newcomer 1964c), but the species has been reared on Rumex sp. in the lab.

Habitat


The Lilac-bordered Copper is found in the Okanagan Valley, at Rock Creek near Grand Forks, and as one historic record from Kaslo that has not been confirmed by recent observations. Adults are found on Eriogonum species, which are the nectar source.

Distribution

Distribution

The Lilac-bordered Copper is found from extreme southern BC south to central CA and CO.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS3BlueNot Listed



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