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Welcome to Daves Moth and
Butterfly World - Species Name: Small Copper Subspecies: Hibernica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Welcome to Dave McCormick's Moth and Butterfly World. Here is information Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas ) and its subspecies Hibernica. Hear Scientific Name
Go Back to Lycaeninae Page Go to Thumbnail Species Index Go Back to Small Copper Page Information The Small Copper subspecies is found in Ireland and the species on the Isle of Man has been recorded as this species but more samples are needed to prove whether or not this is the subspecies there. It was first described in Kerry as a subspecies by Goodsen in 1948. There are two generations of this butterfly that fly between May and June and then from July to late September and even into October in good years when a third brood may occur. The best time to see this butterfly is the last weeks of May and the first week in June and then again in the last two weeks of August. Personal Notes Personal Notes By: David McCormick The Small Copper has always been one of my favourite butterflies ever since I first found one. I first found a small colony of the butterfly when I was about 7 years old, when my family moved to Mountstewart, Co Down, Northern Ireland from a town 5 miles away in 1994. I used to go to an orchard near our house and watch these fluttering through the flowers there. Most I saw was in the warm summer weather of 1995. Since then that area has changed a lot and the species has gone from there, which is a little sad. Since then I found another colony in Mountstewart, in a field with a damp area in it. Found about 4-5 there, but rarely do I see them there. In 2006, in a meadow/field in Mountstewart that is fenced off, I saw a few fluttering about the bramble bushes there. I came back every year and did not find any until August 2009, and then it was only 2, but must mean they are still breeding in the general area. (see image dated 25/08/09 for the photo of the ones I seen in August 2009) In my experience, these butterflies are not easy to get close to and can fly of and are hard to spot when they do because when they land, its not always easy to find them when they do land somewhere. Photographing them is not easy, but since getting a DSLR, with a longer lens, getting a shot without getting too close up is much easier. Even with the longer zooms on compact cameras, its not so hard anymore either, but mostly it takes practise and patience. Similar Species Lycaena younghusbandi, Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon), White-bordered Copper (Lycaena pavana), Large Copper (Lycaena dispar), Purple-Shot Copper (Lycaena alciphron) Known Aberrations To Be Completed. Adult Images The hindwing upperside has a copper coloured band and is broader than in some subspecies. The hindwing underside is ground grey colour and the orange band on the underside is more conspicuous than in some subspecies of small copper.
Mating Images None Caterpillar Images The eggs are laid singly on the underside of foodplant leaves and the young caterpillar feeds on the underside of the leaf creating "windows" by leaving the upper epidermis of the leaf untouched. The caterpillars are usually green, but some have a purple stripe down the middle of the back and along each side. Depending on the habitat, Common Sorrel and Sheep's Sorrel are the two main food-plants, although other Docks species are occasionally used. Pupae Images None Forms Pages Schmidtii Subspecies Pages None Aberrations
Videos Pages None References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_copper - Small Copper - Wikipedia British and Irish Butterflies - Adrian M. Riley (c) 2007 Page last edited: 25/08/2009 13:20 (c) David McCormick 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
