This is a fabulously marked and rather large copper. It can appear like a small bright fritillary in flight, and is always a pleasure to see. There are two subspecies in France, alciphron (the nominate form) and gordius (the southern subspecies). The alciphron male has a violet suffusion all over the upperside, giving the species its name. The female alciphron is basically dark brown with the usual copper upf black markings in the cell and post-discal areas with distinctive uph orange marginal lunules. Females have a more curved shape of the hindwing base (as compared to the slightly square shape of the male - this seems true for most coppers).

observations

gordius -  a male, with the black spots indistinct, and some quite suffused on the upf.

gordius - a male, quite fresh and with more of a purple suffusion than 1241.

gordius -  a female, generally quite lightly marked and with the uph black submarginal spots having blue centres.

gordius - a female, with more typical heavier black markings.

gordius - the male is the one in shot. The unh ground colour is a pale grey brown, with the orange submarginal band quite weak decreasing upward and quite faint above s4, a weak unf orange flush on the lower part.

gordius - a male with typically slightly greyer unh ground colour.

gordius - I think the extensive unf orange suggest a female, as does the curvature of the hindwing, although this is not entirely clear from the camera angle. It seems quite lightly marked on the unf and generally quite a strong orange feel to the whole underside.