Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Lycaena virgaureae / Scarce Copper
Flakëroshja e rallë
Lycaenidae - Lycaeninae

Lycaena virgaureae (Linnaeus, 1758). TL: Sweden.

1a. Lycaena virgaureae, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Lycaena virgaureae ♂ upperside. North of Mali i Korabit, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Lycaena virgaureae ♀ upperside. Finland (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Lycaena virgaureae ♀ underside. Finland (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Lycaena virgaureae ♀ lateral. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Lycaena virgaureae ♂ lateral. Vermosh, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 16-17 mm.
Ups: gleaming red-gold gc.
Upf: unspotted, black marginal border wider near apex.
Uph: narrow black marginal border, touching or fusing with black spots between veins.
Unf: pale orange gc, spots in usual pattern.
Unh: yellow-grey with small black spots, postdiscal spots bordered distally white.
♀♀
Ups: large black spots in usual pattern.
Uns: similar as ♂♂.

Similar species

Lycaena ottomana ♂♂ Upf: small black spots at cell-end and s4-s8. Uph: small tail, no sm dots. Unh: narrow orange sm band. ♀♀ Uph: pale brown basal suffusion. Uph: well developed tail. Unh: narrow orange sm band. Lycaena phlaeas Size: smaller Lycaena. Upf: cell, discal and pd black dots. Upf: dark suffusion very variable. Uph: basal dark gc. Unh: narrow orange sm band.

Life cycle
Adults: single generation from mid-June to September (depending on altitude)
Egg: overwintering on foodplant, 37-41 weeks.
Caterpillar: overwintering in the egg, feeding in spring, 52-57 days.
Pupa: 14-20 days.

Habitat
Lycaena virgaureae inhabits flowery meadows, often in moist areas near forest from 600 to 1800 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement moderate, population density sometimes high, nomadic.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Rumex acetosa, R. acetosella, R. crispus, R. obtusifolius , R. scutatus and R. thyrsiflorus.
Butterflies feed on a variety of flowers.

Distribution
Albania: widespread in the mountains.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE* - UK - SCA - EEU
Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Lycaena virgaureae is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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