15691_male_Doubs_03Jun09
15656_female_Doubs_03Jun09
15698_female_Doubs_03Jun09
15671_female_Doubs_03Jun09
Violet Copper (Lycaena helle)
2009 photos highlighted in yellow. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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A charming little copper of the wetlands. In France it only occurs in a few localities in the north-east, although it has been introduced, apparently successfully, in the central region of the Morvan. It is tied strongly to its larval hostplant, Bistort (Polygonum bistorta), although often settling on nearby bushes at around 1.5-2metres off the ground. At least, that is my experience based on a single visit to this location where it was plentiful but only in the immediate vicinity of the Bistort.
The male has a violet sheen across both wing surfaces, especially when fresh, and these photos taken at the end of the flight period (when females predominated) do not do it justice. It is the only time I have seen helle and 2009 was quite an "early" year for helle, emerging slightly earlier than usual. It is also quite difficult to photograph, in the wetland habitat, so these distance photos were the best I was able to get.
15691: a male, very worn and with all the violet scaling lost, and as such could easily be mistaken for the Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus), which was also flying at the same location. It is sitting on the larval hostplant, Bistort. Altitude 860m.
15656: a female, probably later emerging than the males, showing less wear but still near to the end of the flight period. Altitude 860m.
15698: another female. Altitude 860m.
15671: the underside, a rather poor distance shot but it does show the beautiful patterning which I feel is not dissimilar to Plebejus blues, especially the white chevrons of the Idas Blue (Plebejus idas). Altitude 860m.
