David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
_________________________________________________________________________
Butterflies 88 – Small Coppers
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas SMALL
COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas (m, f)
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY Lycaena
phlaeas
SMALL COPPER
BUTTERFLY Lycaena phlaeas
·
The delightful Small Copper Butterfly Lycaena phlaeas
is the only native species of Copper in the British Isles so identifying this
species shouldn’t pose any difficulty, but, as is so often the case there are a
number of other similar species that could cause possible confusion on the
Continent (and some of these are sexually dimorphic). Knowing the
geographical range of a species and the time of the year at which these
butterflies are on the wing is therefore important and it is worth remembering that
in some cases not all generations of the a given species will necessarily look
identical. Fortunately, there are several excellent on-line references and some
very well-illustrated reference books available to assist with their
identification. Most of the above photographs were taken in the UK with some
examples from France and Italy shown. The markings and ‘tail’ length may vary
according to locality and season. There are two generations in the year in the
UK and Northern Europe and three or possibly more in Southern Europe. The very
attractive form caerulopunctata with
blue spots on the uppersides of the hindwings is not
uncommon and it may be the case that the individual shown in the 17th-19th
photographs could be loosely classified as this form – but it is unconvincing
and the blue spots can be much more pronounced than this.
-> Butterflies 1,
2, 3,
4, 5,
6, 7,
8, 9,
10, 11,
12, 13,
14, 15,
16, 17,
18, 19,
20, 21,
22, 23,
24, 25,
26, 27,
28, 29,
30, 31,
32, 33,
34, 35, 36,
37, 38,
39, 40,
41, 42,
43, 44,
45, 46,
47, 48,
49, 50,
51, 52,
53, 54,
55, 56,
57, 58,
59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66,
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83,
84,
85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100
-> Species Index, Common Names
-> Species Index, Scientific Names
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