Scarce Copper

Fascinating facts about the Scarce Copper

• A single generation of scarce copper flutters between mid-July and mid-September. The eggs, larger than those of its Lycaena cousins, are laid on dry sorrel stems and are the only ones in the genus that survive the winter, letting the species bridge the cold season before the caterpillars hatch in spring.
• Scarce copper butterflies prefer flower-rich meadows that can be dry or damp, occupying elevations from 1,000 up to 2,000 meters, and even reaching 2,700 meters in Armenia. This altitude range lets them thrive from the Arctic Circle in Fennoscandia down to north-west Greece, but they are absent from the British Isles and the Netherlands.
• Male scarce coppers flash a bright gold-red on the upper wing while females spread a broader orange wing edged with dark patterns. The lower wing surfaces stay yellowish with only a few black dots and distinctive white marks nearby.
• The larvae of scarce copper are nocturnal green caterpillars that feed on sorrel, emerging in April and munching until June on Rumex and Solidago.
• Three subspecies of scarce copper adapt to different mountain ranges: L. v. montanus lives in the Alps at 1,700-2,000 m, L. v. miegii occupies Spain's 600-1,600 m slopes, and L. v. armeniaca is endemic to Armenia between 1,800-2,700 m.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Scarce Copper

In the warm, sun-dappled clearings of woodland edges, the Scarce Copper butterfly dances on delicate wings, its burnished copper hue glimmering like a fleck of molten sunlight as it flits from flower to flower. With an effortless, ethereal grace, it navigates the intricate tapestry of its surroundings, its slender body weaving in and out of the tall grasses and wildflowers that sway gently in the breeze. As it alights upon a tender bloom, its proboscis unfurls like a slender thread, drinking in the sweet nectar that sustains its fleeting, whirling existence.

More insects and spiders to discover

Browse Feravox