Lycaena phlaeas

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}} {{Redirect|Common copper|the other butterfly with this common name|Lycaena salustius{{!}}''Lycaena salustius''}} {{Redirect|Small copper|the other butterfly with this common name|Lucia limbaria{{!}}''Lucia limbaria''}} {{More footnotes needed|date=December 2021}} {{Speciesbox | image = Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas phlaeas) Extremadura.jpg | image_caption = ''L. p. phlaeus'' Extremadura, Spain | image2 = Lycaena phlaeas - Kulna.jpg | status = G5 | status_system = TNC | status_ref = <ref>{{cite web |title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 Lycaena phlaeas Little Copper |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.113630/Lycaena_phlaeas |website=explorer.natureserve.org |access-date=3 October 2020}}</ref> | genus = Lycaena | species = phlaeas | authority = (Linnaeus, 1761) {{collapsible list|bullets = true |title=Synonymy | ''Papilio phlaeas'' Linnaeus, 1761 | ''Papilio timeus'' Cramer, [1777] | ''Papilio virgaureae'' Scopoli, 1763 | ''Lycaena phlaeas aestivus'' Zeller, 1847 | ''Polyommatus turcicus'' Gerhard, 1853 | ''Heodes hyperborea'' Ford, 1924 | ''Chrysophanus phloeas feildeni'' McLachlan, 1878 | ''Heodes phlaeas coccineus'' Ford, 1924 | ''Heodes phlaeas flavens'' Ford, 1924 | ''Heodes ethiopica'' Poulton, 1922 | ''Lycaena phlaeas'' f. ''polaris'' Courvoisier, 1911 | ''Lycaena phlaeus chinensis'' ab. ''kurilensis'' Matsumura, 1928 | ''Heodes kuriliphlaeas'' Bryk, 1942 | ''Chrysophanus arethusa'' Dod, 1907 | ''Chrysophanus abbottii'' Holland, 1892 | ''Chrysophanus abbottii'' Holland, 1896 | ''Polyommatus phlaeas'' var. ''comedarum'' Grum-Grshimailo, 1890 | ''Polyommatus phlaeas'' var. ''oxiana'' Grum-Grshimailo, 1890 | ''Polyommatus turanica'' Rühl, 1895 | ''Lycaena phlaeas'' f. ''naruena'' Courvoisier, 1911 | ''Heodes coccineus'' Ford, 1924 | ''Chrysophanus pseudophlaeas'' Lucas, 1866 | ''Chrysophanus phlaeas'' var. ''menelicki'' Thierry-Mieg, 1910 | ''Heodes matsumuranus'' Bryk, 1946 | ''Polyommatus hypophlaeas'' Boisduval, 1852 | ''Lycaena americana'' Harris, 1862 | ''Chrysophanus phlaeas'' var. ''americana'' ab. ''fasciata'' Strecker, 1878 | ''Chrysophanus americanus'' ab. ''fulliolus'' Hulst, 1886 | ''Lycaena bacchus'' Scudder, 1889 | ''Heodes hypophlaeas'' ab. ''obliterata'' Scudder, 1889 | ''Chrysophanus phlaeas adrienne'' Maynard, 1891 | ''Heodes hypophlaeas'' f. ''caeca'' Reiff, 1913 | ''Chrysophanus hypohplaeas'' ab. ''octomaculata'' Dean, 1918 | ''Heodes hypophlaeas hypophlaeas'' ab. ''banksi'' Watson & Comstock, 1920 | ''Heodes hypophlaeas'' ab. ''fulvus'' Rummel, 1929 | ''Heodes hypophlaeas'' ab. ''neui'' Rummel, 1929 | ''Hesperia eleus'' Fabricius, 1798 | ''Lycaena phlaeas'' f. ''caerulopunctata'' Rühl, 1895 | ''Chrysophanus phlaeas'' ab. ''oberthuri'' Blachier, 1908 | ''Lycaena shima'' Gabriel, 1954 }} }}

'''''Lycaena phlaeas''''', the '''small copper''', '''American copper''', or '''common copper''', is a butterfly of the Lycaenids or gossamer-winged butterfly family. According to Guppy and Shepard (2001), its specific name ''phlaeas'' is said to be derived either from the Greek {{lang|grc|φλέγω}} (''phlégo''), "to burn up", or from the Latin ''floreo'', "to flourish".

==Description== The upperside forewings are a bright orange with a dark outside edge border and with eight or nine black spots. The hindwings are dark with an orange border. Some females also have a row of blue spots inside the orange border and are known as form ''caeruleopunctata''. The undersides are patterned in a similar way but are paler. The black spots on the forewings are outlined in yellow and the dark colouring is replaced by a pale brownish grey. The hindwings are the same brown/grey colour with small black dots and a narrow orange border. The caterpillars (larvae) are usually green, but some have a purple stripe down the middle of the back and along each side. <gallery mode="packed" heights="130"> Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas eleus) 2.jpg|''L. p. eleus'' Oxfordshire File:Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas eleus) ab. caeruleopunctata.jpg|male ''L. p. eleus'' ab. ''caeruleopunctata'' Oxfordshire File:Lycaena phlaeas - slow motion - Kanagawa Japan - 2023-07-21.webm|''L. p. eleus'' taking flight Japan File:Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas) female.jpg|female ''L. p. eleus'' Buckinghamshire File:Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas phlaeas) male underside autumn brood.jpg|''L. p. phlaeas'' male Amarante, Portugal File:Small copper (Lycaena phlaeas pseudophlaeas) underside.jpg|''L. p. pseudophlaeas'' Bale Mountains, Ethiopia </gallery>

==Range== It is a holarctic species, widespread and common across Europe, Asia, North America, and also found in North Africa south through to Ethiopia.

It can be found almost anywhere in south/central England and Wales although never, it seems, in large numbers. Its distribution becomes more patchy in northern England, Scotland and Ireland.

==Habitat== It is found in a wide variety range of habitats from chalk downlands, heathland, and woodland clearings, to churchyards and waste ground in cities.

==Habits== It is most active in bright sun, with males setting up small territories which they will defend vigorously against rival males or any passing insect. Even the shadow of a large bird passing overhead can be enough to elicit a response. Females are pursued and mating usually occurs in vegetation.

==Life cycle== The eggs are laid singly and conspicuously on the upperside of food plant leaves and the young caterpillar feeds on the underside of the leaf creating "windows" by leaving the upper epidermis of the leaf untouched. Pupation takes place in the leaf litter and the pupa is thought to be tended by ants. There are between two and three broods a year, fewer further north. In exceptionally good years, a fourth brood sometimes occurs in the south and adults can still be seen flying into November. The species overwinters as a caterpillar. <gallery> Image:Lycaena phlaeas egg.jpg|Egg Image:Lycaena phlaeas larva.jpg|Larva </gallery>

==Host plants== Depending on the habitat, common sorrel (''Rumex acetosa'') and sheep's sorrel (''Rumex acetosella'') are the two main food plants, although other ''Rumex'' species are occasionally used.

==Systematics== ''Lycaena phlaeas'' belongs to the subgenus ''Lycaena'' and is the type-species of genus ''Lycaena''. The species is in turn divided into several subspecies, although many probably lack reason to be named, and others may merit an elevation of rank to be considered autonomous species:

* ''L. p. hibernica'' Goodson, 1948 — Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland * ''L. p. eleus'' Fabricius, 1798 — England, Wales, Scotland * ''L. p. phlaeas'' Linnaeus, 1761 — Europe, western Siberia, Caucasus, South Caucasus (type locality = Sweden) * ''L. p. polaris'' Courvoisier, 1911 — northern Ural Mountains, northern Siberia, Chukotka Peninsula (Russia) * ''L. p. kamtschatica'' Gorbunov, 1994 — Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) * ''L. p. ganalica'' Gorbunov, 1995 — Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) * ''L. p. daimio'' (Seitz, [1909]) — south Kurile Islands, Sakhalin (Russian islands) * ''L. p. gonpaensis'' (Yoshino, [2019]) — North Yunnan, China * ''L. p. hypophlaeas'' (Boisduval, 1852) — N California Sierra Nevada Mts. (Type location) and White Mts.,<ref>Boisduval. Annales de la Societe Entomologique de France. 1852:2(10),291, no. 23</ref><ref>FERRIS, C. D. 1974. Distribution of arctic-alpine ''Lycaena phlaeas'' L. (Lycaenidae) in North America with designation of a new subspecies. ''Bull. Allyn Mus.'' 18:1-13 </ref><ref>Ballmer, G.R., Pratt, G.F., ''Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society'' 43(1), 1989, 59- 65</ref> Altai Mountains, southern Siberia, Amur (Russia–NW China border region), northern Ussuri (adjacent to Amur) * ''L. p. chinensis'' (Felder, 1862) — southern Ussuri * ''L. p. oxiana'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1890) — Kopet Dag mountains, Alai Mountains, Ghissar-Darvaz, Tian Shan mountains * ''L. p. comedarum'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1890) — eastern Pamir Mountains * ''L. p. stygiana'' Butler, 1880 — western Pamir Mountains * ''L. p. shima'' Gabriel, 1954 — Arabia * ''Lycanea phlaeas pseudophlaeas'' (Lucas, 1866) — Ethiopia, Uganda * ''L. p. ethiopica'' (Poulton, 1922) — Ruwenzori Mountains (SW Uganda) * ''L. p. abbottii'' (Holland, 1892) — Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi * ''L. p. flavens'' (Ford, 1924) — Tibet * ''L. p. coccinea'' (Ford, 1924) * ''L. p. americana'' (Morris, 1862)<ref>Morris, John G (1862). Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America Part 1. - Diurnal and Crepuscular Lepidoptera. Compiled for the Smithsonian Institution by John G. Morris, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Washington D.C., 358 pp. 1862.</ref> — Nova Scotia and W. to Minnesota, and S. to: Virginia, Montane N Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, N Dakota. * ''L. p. arethusa'' (Dod, 1907) — Alberta * ''L. p. arctodon'' Ferris, 1974 — Montana * ''L. p. feildeni'' (McLachlan, 1878) — Ellesmere * ''L. p. alpestris'' Emmel & Pratt, 1998 — California

<gallery> Image:Lycaena phlaeas daimio1.jpg|Subspecies ''daimio'', Osaka, Japan Image:Kl feuerfalter1.jpg|Germany Image:Kl feuerfalter2.jpg|Germany Image:Common Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) I2 IMG 3282.jpg| Image:Lycaenidae - Lycaena phlaeas-1.JPG| Image:Lycaenidae - Lycaena phlaeas.JPG| Image:Lycaena phlaeas-01 (xndr).jpg|Subspecies ''phlaeas'' File: Small Copper Butterfly (Lycaena phlaeas).webm|In Tokyo, Japan </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}} * Asher, Jim, Martin Warren, Richard Fox, Paul Harding, Gaile Jeffcoate & Stephen Jeffcoate (Eds) (2001) ''The Millennium Atlas of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland.'' Oxford University Press. *{{Cite book | last = Darby | first = Gene | title = What is a Butterfly | publisher = Benefic Press | location = Chicago | year = 1958 | page = 34 }} * Dempster, J.P. & A.M. Emmet (1990) Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus). Pp. 134–139 in A. Maitland Emmet, John Heath ''et al.'' The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' vol. 7, part 1. Harley Books, Colchester, UK. * {{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=W.H. |author-link=William Harry Evans |title=The Identification of Indian Butterflies |edition=2nd |location=Mumbai, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |year=1932 }} * {{cite book |last=Gaonkar |first=Harish |author-link=Harish Gaonkar |title=Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System |publisher=Centre for Ecological Sciences |location=Bangalore, India |year=1996 }} * {{cite book |last1=Gay |first1=Thomas |last2=Kehimkar |first2=Isaac David |last3=Punetha |first3=Jagdish Chandra |title=Common Butterflies of India |series=Nature Guides |publisher= World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press |location=Bombay, India |year=1992 |isbn=978-0195631647 }} * Guppy, C.S. and Shepard, J. (2001) ''Butterflies of British Columbia'' British Columbia Museum, Canada. * {{cite book |last=Haribal |first=Meena |title=The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History |location=Gangtok, Sikkim, India |publisher=Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation |year=1992 }} * {{cite book |last=Kunte |first=Krushnamegh |title=Butterflies of Peninsular India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuPPjOMcu_4C |series=India, A Lifescape |location=Hyderabad, India |publisher=Universities Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-8173713545 }} * Tomlinson, David & Rob Still (2002) ''Britain's Butterflies''. WildGuides, Old Basing, UK. * {{cite book|last=Wynter-Blyth |first=Mark Alexander |author-link=Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth |title=Butterflies of the Indian Region |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEkgAQAAMAAJ |year=1957 |location=Bombay, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |isbn=978-8170192329 }} * {{cite journal |last=Yoshino |first=K. |date=2019 |title=Description of a new subspecies of ''Lycaena phlaeas'' from northern Yunnan, China |journal=Butterflies |volume=80 |pages=16–20 |location=Japan}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/lycaeninae/lycaena/index.html ''Lycaena''] at Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera

phlaeas Category:Butterflies of Africa Category:Butterflies of Asia Category:Butterflies of Europe Category:Butterflies of North America Category:Butterflies described in 1761 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Articles containing video clips