sanctuaryofwings
Scarce copper (Lycaena virgaureae), a species in the family Lycaenidae.
Photo: Didier Descouens · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA

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Contents
  1. Identification
  2. Range and habitat
  3. Life cycle and host plants
  4. Behaviour and flight period
  5. Similar species

The Scarce copper, Lycaena virgaureae, is a small, bright butterfly of the family Lycaenidae, widespread across much of Europe and Asia but absent from a few corners of the continent. It ranges from Atlantic coasts across Europe to East Siberia and Mongolia, north to the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia and south to northwestern Greece, though it is absent from the British Isles and the Netherlands.

Identification

The Scarce copper has a wingspan of 34–38 mm, smaller than the Large Copper. Like other coppers, the species shows a marked difference between the sexes, with males carrying the bright, iridescent orange upperside typical of the genus while females are duller and more heavily marked with dark spots, the pattern shared across Lycaena. Underside markings of pale spots on a buff or orange ground help separate this species from its relatives when it is seen at rest with wings closed.

Range and habitat

The species favours flower-rich, dry and damp meadows, typically at 1,000–2,000 m in mountain regions such as the Pyrenees, Cantabrian Mountains and Massif Central, with populations in Armenia reaching as high as 2,700 m. Across the lowlands further north and east, where the climate is cooler, it also occupies similar open, flowery grassland at much lower elevation.

Life cycle and host plants

Caterpillars feed on sorrel (Rumex), the same plant group used by several other coppers. Adults are less fussy about their nectar sources, visiting ground-elder, Eupatorium, Valeriana and burnet saxifrage. The species produces one generation a year and passes the winter as an egg — the only species in its genus whose eggs overwinter.

Behaviour and flight period

Adults fly in a single generation from mid-July to mid-September, later in the season than many other coppers, which fits a species that spends the winter as an unhatched egg rather than resuming activity from an earlier life stage in spring.

Similar species

  • Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas): a smaller, more widespread relative that also feeds on sorrel as a caterpillar but flies in several broods a year rather than one.
  • Large Copper (Lycaena dispar): a bigger, more fiery orange relative tied to wetlands rather than mountain meadows.

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