Scarce Copper (Lycaena virgaureae)
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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| 8453_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul07 | 18613_male_Isere_14Jul09 | 05_23-33_male_Ariege_23Jul05 |
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| 12999_male_Valais, Switzerland_15Jul08 | 3117_female_Alpes Maritimes_25Jul06 | 12362_female_Isere_10Jul08 |
A
breathtakingly beautiful mountain butterfly. The burning red-orange male upperside,
especially in fresh specimens, makes this one of the most strikingly coloured
butterflies, the orange framed by jet black margins which extend slightly along the
veins, and small marginal spots on the uph. The female is marked
in the "usual" copper pattern. The underside is quite distinctive, with a row of
black-centred white
spots of varying size in the unh post-discal band. It’s name is completely inaccurate as
it isn’t scarce at altitude, and in many areas it is quite common.
8453: a typical male, burning red-orange set off by the crisp black borders. Altitude 2200m.
18613: a male, perhaps showing a little more of the fiery orange colour that makes this butterfly so spectacular in flight. Altitude 1230m.
05_23-33: a male, heavily marked with a very broad black ups border especially at the apex.
12999: a male underside. Altitude 1700m.
3117: a standard female, slightly lighter markings than indicated in the books. Altitude 1800m.
12362: a female underside, or so I thought at the time, but that body shape and wing shape has me wondering. Altitude 1120m.
8453_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul07
12999_male_Valais, Switzerland_15Jul08
3117_female_Alpes Maritimes_25Jul06
