Summary ⁵

aka American copper

Color: Upper surface of forewing shiny, fiery orange-red with black spots; hindwing gray with orange-red outer margin. Underside gray; hindwing with submarginal row of orange-red zigzags.
Wingspan: 7/8 - 1 3/8 inches (2.2 - 3.5 cm)
Host plants: Herbs of the buckwheat (Polygonaceae) family including sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella), curled dock (Rumex crispus), and Oxyria digyna.
Adult food: Nectar from many flowers including common buttercup, white clover, butterflyweed, yarrow, ox-eye daisy, and various composites.
Overwintering stage: chrysalis
Mate-Location system: perching
Flight: 1 flight from July-September for alpine and arctic populations. 2 flights in the north from June-July and August-September; 3 flights in the south from April-September.

https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Lycaena-phlaeas

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Ronald Werson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Ronald Werson
2. (c) AfroBrazilian, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lycaena_phlaeas_04.JPG
3. Anna N Chapman, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:84_Lycaena_phlaeas.jpg
4. (c) Anita Gould, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Anita Gould, http://www.flickr.com/photos/anitagould/7730137048/
5. (c) mgillet, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/1715844

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Butterflies and Moths of North America
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• Lepiforum
• Mass Moths
• Moth Dissection UK
• NBN Atlas
• UK Moths
• 日本のレッドデータ検索システム

iNat Map