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Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides [Boisduval])
Wing span: 1 1/8 - 1 1/2 inches (3 - 3.8 cm).
Identification: Upperside of male brown with purple iridescence; female more orange. Hindwing of both sexes with broad orange band at margin.
Life history: Males perch and sometimes patrol in low spots for females. Eggs are scattered at the base of the host plant or in litter beneath it. Eggs hibernate; caterpillars feed on leaves.
Flight: Three or four flights in lower elevation California. Two flights in many areas from May-July and from August-October. One flight at high altitude and far northern habitats from July-August.
Caterpillar hosts: Knotweeds (Polygonum) and docks (Rumex) in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), cinquefoils in the rose family (Rosaceae).
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Disturbed areas including roadsides and open fields; wet meadows, marshes, streamsides, and valleys.
Range: Great Lakes area through the northern Midwest and northern plains to British Columbia, south to Baja California.
Comments: The distinction between the Purplish Copper and the Dorcas Copper is blurred in the Rocky Mountains. These populations here are considered under the Purplish Copper.
Conservation: Not usually required.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management needs: None reported.
References:
Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.
Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson
field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press,
Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Cech, R. 1993. A Distributional Checklist of the Butterflies and Skippers of
the New York City Area (50-mile Radius) and Long Island. New York City
Butterfly Club Special Publication. 27 pp.
Forbes, W.T.M. 1960. Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States. Part
IV: Agaristidae through Nymphalidae Including Butterflies. Cornell Univ.
Agricultural Experimental Station, Ithaca, N.Y. Memoir 371. 188 pp.
Glassberg, J. 1993. Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to
Butterflies in the Boston-New York-Washington Region. Oxford Univ. Press,
New York, N.Y. 160 pp.
Klass, C. and Dirig, R. 1992. Learning about Butterflies. Cornell Cooperative
Extension Publication, 4-H Member/Leader Guide 139-M-9. Ithaca, N.Y.
36 pp.
Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998. The Butterflies of
Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON. 280 pp.
Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Shapiro, A.M. 1974. Butterflies and Skippers of New York State. Cornell Univ.
Agricultural Experimental Station, Ithaca, N.Y. Search 4:1-60.
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