Small Copper
Lycaena phlaeas
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A small scrap of burnished copper, and startlingly aggressive for its size.
A small, bright butterfly with brilliant coppery-orange forewings spotted with black, and dark brown hindwings edged with an orange band. Small coppers like short, dry, open ground — heath, verges, old quarries, waste ground and unimproved grassland — where sorrel and dock grow. They are widespread around Dumfries but never numerous in one place.
Behaviour
Males are pugnacious, holding a small territory from a low perch and darting up at anything that passes, including butterflies several times their size and the occasional passing bird. Eggs are laid singly on common sorrel and sheep's sorrel. There are usually two broods, and a warm autumn can produce a third, so fresh individuals appear right through the summer.
When to see it
Quick facts
- Family
- Blues and coppers (Lycaenidae)
- Wingspan
- 3–3.5 cm
- Status
- Native; widespread but thinly spread
Photo by Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons