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Lycaena phlaeas Fabricius, 1807
Coppers; Little 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

Photograph

© David Blevins     (Photo ID #2692)

Map

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Distribution of Lycaena phlaeas in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Species Information


Adult

The Small Copper and the Lustrous Copper are the only BC species that have the copper colour on the upperside of the wings. In the Small Copper, only the dorsal forewings are copper-coloured. The underside of the wings is typical of the genus. It has a tawny ground colour with a submarginaI row of orange spots. In extreme northeastern BC, individual females of the Mariposa Copper can look very similar to the Small Copper but have very different ventral hindwings.

Immature Stages

A mature larva from a California population is figured by Ballmer and Pratt (1989), and CSG photographed a mature larva on Rumex at Mile 96 of the Dempster Highway, YT. Otherwise, the immatures of native populations are undescribed for North America. The mature larva is green with a pink dorsal stripe. The sides from the spiracles down are also pink. The larva from the Yukon is more brightly coloured than the one from California.

Subspecies

Northern Rocky Mountain populations are subspecies L.p. arethusa (Wolley-Dod, 1907), described from near Calgary, AB. Populations from extreme northwestern BC, near Atlin, may be the undescribed central Alaskan subspecies characterized by Ferris (1974). Populations from the Lillooet/Lytton area are a separate segregate left over from the ice-free area that straddled the BC/Washington border at Cathedral Lakes Provincial Park.

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


Adult Small Coppers fly from late July to mid-August. The native North American subspecies have been associated with Oxyria digyna (Polygonaceae) by several observers (Shields and Montgomery 1967). European and Asian populations (Shields 1968a) and the introduced subspecies from the northeastern USA feed on Rumex sp. (Polygonaceae). BC populations have one generation each year. Since the adults emerge late in the season, the species must hibernate as an egg or first instar larva and mature the following year.

Habitat


The Small Copper is found above timberline in the mountains of BC east of the Coast Ranges. It was been recorded only infrequently because adults emerge in late July and early August after the emergence of all other alpine butterflies in the province. In AB, the Small Copper can sometimes be found well below timberline, on the gravel bars of braided streams where the foodplant occurs. It should occur in BC in similar situations on the east side of the Rocky Mountains.

Distribution

Distribution

The Small Copper is Holarctic. In North America it ranges from northern and central AK to Baffin Island and Greenland. It ranges south through BC to Beartooth Plateau and the Tetons of WY, with disjunct populations in the central Sierras of CA. There are other populations in CAN from ON to NS and adjacent USA that were introduced from Europe.

Status Information

Origin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
NativeS4S5YellowNot Listed



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