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Lycaena thersamon / Lesser Fiery Copper
Tersamonia
Lycaenidae - Lycaeninae
Lycaena thersamon (Esper, [1784]). TL: Sarepta, S. Russia.
 
1a. Lycaena thersamon, distribution map.  Historical data ;  Additional data from the 2018 update ;  New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Lycaena thersamon ♂ upperside. Serbia (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Lycaena thersamon ♂ underside. Romania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 14-16 mm.
Ups: gleaming orange red gc with suffused violet areas (more expressed on hw), narrow black margin.
Hw: in summer generations often with a small tail at v2.
Upf: unmarked.
Uph:
faint small cell-bar,slightly different colour of submarginal band enclosing small black spots fusing with the black border.
Uns: pale grey gc, usual pattern of dark spots on fw and hw, bright orange submarginal lunules from s1b-s6.
♀♀
Similar size.
Ups: usual pattern of dots on fw and hw.
Uns: similar as ♂♂.
Similar species
Life cycle
Adults: spring generation followed by two or three summer generations from April to September, sometimes even October.
Egg: probably short stage.
Caterpillar: probably overwintering as young larva.
Pupa: probably short stage.
Habitat
Lycaena thersamon inhabits warm waste places, dry meadows and ditches with scattered bushes from lowland up to 1000 m a.s.l, rarely higher.
Spatial requirement small, population density can be high (especially in summer generations), nomadic.
Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Polygonum aviculare, also mentioned is Bistorta officinalis.
Butterflies often found feeding on Mentha sp. in ditches.
Distribution
Albania: local.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU*
Asia Minor, Near East, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.
Conservation status
Lycaena thersamon is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.
Useful links
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps
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wide black margin.
discal spot.
