(Linnaeus, 1761)
Purple-edged Copper
Description:
The Purple-edged Copper occurs on wet to damp grasslands, where the male butterflies attract the attention, perched on a tall grass or other plant, watching over their territory. The populations are mostly very local, but in a meadow, the butterflies can often be very numerous.
The eggs are laid on various sorrels (Rumex spp.). At first the small caterpillar only shaves off a few cell layers on the leaf surface, so making translucent "windows", but later they feed on the whole leaf. The caterpillar hibernates when still small, and completes its growth in the spring, pupating in the litter layer.
It has one brood a year.
The Purple-edged Copper has a few subspecies. The lowland subspecies L. h. hippothoe has a largely orange forewing; the mountain subspecies, L. h. eurydame, that occurs between 1500 and 2500 m, has completely brown females; and the Scandinavian L. h. striberi has wholly orange forewings, resembling a Small Copper (L. phlaeas).
Habitat:
Alpine grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Humid grasslands
Similar species:
Lycaena alciphron
Lycaena tityrus
Lycaena dispar
Lycaena virgaureae