Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Names:Nivalis
Copper, Snowy Copper.
Note: This species is referred to with the genus name Epidemia
by some authors.
Range:
This species ranges from southern British Columbia south through the Pacific
Northwest to central California and northern Nevada, and east to western Montana,
and parts of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. It occurs through much of Idaho.
Habitat:
It can be found in open areas such as sagebrush steppe, meadows,
forest openings, and rocky outcrops.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of Douglas knotweed (Polygonum
douglasii).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
Eggs overwinter and hatch in the spring, and the resulting
brood of caterpillars is the only generation for the given year. Each caterpillar
undergoes four stages of growth, called instars.
Adults generally fly
from June through September or October. These butterflies are swift fliers.
Reproduction:
Males perch to
wait for receptive females. Females lay eggs singly at or near the base of host plants.
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | G5; populations are widespread, abundant, and secure. |
Ferris, C. D. and F. M. Brown. (eds.) 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 442 pp.
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.