 |
The Small Copper is a fast flying butterfly that, once settled, is unmistakable with its bright copper-coloured forewings. It is a widespread species and a familiar and welcome sight for many naturalists throughout the summer months. Subspecies: eleus This subspecies is found throughout the British Isles, with the exception of Ireland. Subspecies: hibernica This subspecies represents the population found in Ireland, and has minor colour differences with the subspecies eleus.
This butterfly occurs in discrete colonies throughout the British Isles. Most colonies are fairly small, with just a few adults being seen on the wing at any one time. It is absent from mountainous areas, the Outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetlands.
There are typically 2 or 3 generations each year, depending on the weather, with 4 generations in extremely good years. The first adults emerge in May, occasionally at the end of April, with the last adults being seen around the middle of October, depending on location. Subspecies: eleus Subspecies: hibernica
This butterfly favours open land where nectar sources and foodplant are found. Such habitats include grassland, wasteland, heathland, old quarries, embankments, road verges and woodland rides.
The primary larval foodplants are Common Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) and Sheep's Sorrel (Rumex acetosella). Broad-leaved Dock (Rumex obtusifolius) is also used.
Adults feed primarily on Fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica). Buttercups (Ranunculus spp.), Daisy (Bellis perennis), Dandelion (Taraxacum agg.), Hawkweeds (Hieracium/Hypochoeris), Heather (Calluna vulgaris / Erica spp.), Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), Red Clover (Trifolium patense), Thistles (Cirsium spp. and Carduus spp.) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) are also used.
This sun-loving butterfly is often found resting on the ground, vegetation or flowers, as it absorbs the sun’s rays. Males establish small territories and fly up to intercept any passing insect in the hope of intercepting a passing female. When egg-laying, females are easy to distinguish from males, as they fly low across the ground searching for suitable foodplants on which to lay. Both sexes roost head down on grass stems. Subspecies: eleus
Subspecies: hibernica
Aberration is fairly frequently met with in this species and even quite small colonies can produce interesting forms year after year. It is always worth having a close look at any Small Copper that you see in the field.
Upperside ground colour can vary from pure silver-white through oranges and fiery reds, to deeply suffused specimens that appear almost entirely black. The amount of copper on the hindwing band can be greatly exaggerated or reduced to the point of absence. The number, size, and shape of the black forewing spots can also vary considerably on both the upperside and underside; and even the tails on the hind wings can be markedly exaggerated in length. Heavy suffusion on the upperside is probably environmentally triggered and can sometimes be met with relative frequency in the autumn generation following a particularly hot summer. Rarely (as in other species) more than one genetically inherited aberration can be expressed in the same specimen. This becomes particularly impressive where, for example, the silver-white ab. schmidtii also expresses the blue markings on the hindwings known as ab. caeruleopunctata and the reduced forewing markings of ab. bipunctata. Such multiple aberrations are almost unknown in the wild but have been produced in captivity by selective pairing of aberrant imagines through successive generations. There are 140 named aberrations known to occur in Britain; a selection is described here.
ab. auronitens (Schultz) The dark area of the hindwing uppersides suffused with a bright orange glow at the base and central area as far as the marginal band. ab. caeruleopunctata (Tutt) Hindwings with a row of blue spots above the copper marginal band. This aberration varies from having one or two small indistinct blue spots, through to a row of five well developed and pear-shaped blue scaled markings.
ab. cupreopunctata (Tutt) Hindwings with a row of copper spots above the marginal band. ab. cuprinus (Peyerimhoff) Ground colour straw coloured or pale brassy yellow. ab. extensa (Tutt, 1906) Forewings with black spots of transverse submarginal row enlarged or extended.
ab. ignita (Tutt) Ground colour a deep fiery red. ab. kochi (Strand) Submarginal spots very large and elongated in wedge shapes angled towards the base, and touching each other transversely. ab. lacticolour (Leeds) Ground colour pale cream to white, more pale than cuprinus but lacking the silvery 'metallic' colouration typical of schmidtii. ab. obsoleta-caeruleopunctata (Tutt) Hindwings with a row of blue spots above the area of the copper marginal band, but with the marginal band entirely absent. ab. radiata (Tutt, 1896) Hindwings with the copper marginal band divided into streaks or wedge shapes. ab. schmidtii (Gerhardt, 1853) Ground colour silver-white.
ab. supra-radiata (Oberthur) Submarginal forewing spots greatly elongated into streaks pointing towards the base of the wing. ab. unipunctata (Tutt, 1906) All the spots on the forewing upperside absent except the discoidal.
Eggs are laid singly, usually on the underside of a leaf of the foodplant, those growing in full sunshine being preferred. The egg is white when first laid, gradually become grey before the larva emerges. Eggs hatch in 1 or 2 weeks.
The larva does not eat the eggshell on emerging, but starts to feed on the underside of the leaf. As it feeds it forms characteristic grooves, in which it also rests, leaving the upper surface of the leaf intact. Each groove appears as a transparent area of the leaf when seen from above and can give the presence of a larva away to the trained eye. Those larvae that overwinter do so in one of the first 3 instars, attached to a pad of silk on the foodplant, such as on leaf or leaf stem. There are 4, sometimes 5, instars.
The larva leaves its foodplant to pupate low down in the vegetation, such as on a dead leaf. The pupa is attached by a silk girdle and the cremaster. This stage lasts around 3 or 4 weeks.
No similar species found.
Click here to see the distribution of this species overlaid with specific site information. Alternatively, select one of the sites listed below.
Despite a long-term decline in distribution, this is still a widespread butterfly and is not currently a priority species for conservation efforts.
From The State of Butterflies in Britain and Ireland and the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) (2007 review).
The following links provide additional information on this butterfly.
The species description provided here has been derived from the author's own observations and the information contained in the following works:
Site brought to you by Webified |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![Small Copper Clive Burrows [Clive Burrows]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/3f167bd6e8be43c60990c791ede6cc13.jpg "Small Copper Clive Burrows [Clive Burrows]")
![Small Copper - imago - Boston, Clare - Unknown date [Adrian Riley]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/a8901a04c496cab0d0865fc6ffad0d81.jpg "Small Copper - imago - Boston, Clare - Unknown date [Adrian Riley]")
![Small Copper - imago - Newtownards, Co Down, Northern Ireland - Unknown date (2) [Dave McCormick]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/a702fabed3241e28854524de16bc7b15.jpg "Small Copper - imago - Newtownards, Co Down, Northern Ireland - Unknown date (2) [Dave McCormick]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Bathampton Down - 06-Jun-06 [Simon Crampin]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/42b3a479720e104ec2f36eef983ad384.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Bathampton Down - 06-Jun-06 [Simon Crampin]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Nr Siston Brook, Longwell Green, Bristol - 06-Jun-04 [Mike Dimery]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/6d9efee992c994c77d432bab3f8cc6c2.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Nr Siston Brook, Longwell Green, Bristol - 06-Jun-04 [Mike Dimery]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Swaledale - 20-May-07 (2) [Paul Kipling]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/04906d325401f0f4b687d303e8919426.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Swaledale - 20-May-07 (2) [Paul Kipling]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Swaledale - 20-May-07 [Paul Kipling]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/cc5981975b19c0073eb3506dd04f4105.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Swaledale - 20-May-07 [Paul Kipling]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Unknown location - Unknown date (2) [David Tipping]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/9eca45d6b6a3ecd402d3413252d1d8dc.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Unknown location - Unknown date (2) [David Tipping]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Unknown location - Unknown date [David Tipping]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/bbec872532bb9265c82097baa3096c13.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Unknown location - Unknown date [David Tipping]")
![Small Copper ab. radiata. Whixall Moss - 06-Oct-07 [Malcolmn Monie]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/6a8500eba1ecf2730f9908ea395a28a1.jpg "Small Copper ab. radiata. Whixall Moss - 06-Oct-07 [Malcolmn Monie]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Bridport - 09-Sep-06 [Jules Cross]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/26202751063f766342622b81f92280e2.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Bridport - 09-Sep-06 [Jules Cross]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Sussex - 12-Sep-09 [Adrian Hoskins]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/7dbe823a7fa5ab07fc9460fc84347d25.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Sussex - 12-Sep-09 [Adrian Hoskins]")
![Small Copper - aberration - Seven Barrows - 04-Jun-05 [Allen Beechey]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/2892438828b1a481ebd59723690fa67f.jpg "Small Copper - aberration - Seven Barrows - 04-Jun-05 [Allen Beechey]")
![Small Copper - ovum - Stockbridge Down - Unknown Date (2) [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/786c3cf822e0d1f918418ec90eec2823.jpg "Small Copper - ovum - Stockbridge Down - Unknown Date (2) [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - ovum - Stockbridge Down - Unknown Date [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/834a3388a7650782f0c13d6341c90035.jpg "Small Copper - ovum - Stockbridge Down - Unknown Date [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (2) [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/46bd572389c61b4e6b605e6783b6ac40.jpg "Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (2) [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (3) [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/38fb40ca94870aa644cf76804d8e91fb.jpg "Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (3) [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (4) [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/38a599e9b58ff7e56c5eb1287761fa73.jpg "Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 (4) [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/97fd984a3e53bcca3c16237254785f8b.jpg "Small Copper - larva - Stockbridge Down - Jun-99 [Tim Norriss]")
![Small Copper - pupa - Stockbridge Down - 14-Jul-99 [REARED] [Tim Norriss]](phpBB/gallery/images/upload/c02ba2cc46bcff197190c4cff335648f.jpg "Small Copper - pupa - Stockbridge Down - 14-Jul-99 [REARED] [Tim Norriss]")
