Family:Lycaenidae
Family
Description:
Alternate Common Names:Flame
Copper, Small Copper.
Range:
Primarily an introduced eastern species, it ranges from Nova Scotia south to
Georgia, and east to Minnesota and the Dakotas south to Arkansas. It also occurs
as a native in patches of arctic Canada, in northern Alaska south and west to
British Columbia and Alberta, and in patches of the Rockies. It has been documented
in Idaho in Lemhi County.
Habitat:
In the east it can be found in open or disturbed areas, including pastures, fields, and landfills; in the west it occurs in rocky alpine places or arctic tundra.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
In the east, caterpillars feed on the leaves of sheep sorrel (Rumex
acetosella) and curly dock (R. crispus); in the west, caterpillars
feed primarily on mountain sorrel (Oxyria digyna).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
The number of generations of caterpillars each summer depends on the location, with three or four in the south, two in the north, and one in alpine and arctic areas. Each caterpillar undergoes four to five stages of growth, called instars. Either caterpillars or pupae overwinter in a physiological state called diapause. Adults generally fly from May through September in most of its range, and from July through August in the western and arctic parts of its range. These butterflies have been known to be aggressive, chasing almost anything passing by.
Reproduction:
Males perch to wait
for receptive females. Females lay ribbed, pale green eggs singly on the leaves
or stems 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.