Lycaena helloides

Lycaena helloides, the purplish copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from the Great Lakes area to British Columbia, south to Baja California.[2]

Female, underside

Purplish copper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Lycaena
Species:
L. helloides
Binomial name
Lycaena helloides
(Boisduval, 1852)[1]
Synonyms
  • Polyommatus helloides Boisduval, 1852
  • Epidemia helloides
  • Lycaena xanthoides tr.f. gunderi Rudkin, 1933
  • Lycaena sternitzkyi Gunder, 1936


The wingspan is 30–38 mm. The upper surface of the males is brown with a purple iridescence, while females are more orange. The hindwings of both males and females have a broad orange band at the margin. Adults are generally on wing from May to July and again from August to October in two generations per year, although up to four generations per year may occur at some locations. In the northern part of the range, there is one generation with adults on wing from July to August. Adults feed on flower nectar.

The larvae feed on the leaves of Polygonum, Rumex, and sometimes Potentilla species. The species overwinters as an egg.

References
  1. Lycaena at funet
  2. Butterflies and Moths of North America


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