BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Lycaena helloides
Purplish Copper
| Scientific Name: | Lycaena helloides (Boisduval, 1852) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name: | Purplish Copper | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Scott, J. A. 2009. Chrysophanus florus Edwards 1884 (currently Lycaena florus) (Insecta, Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae): conservation of the specific name by designation of a neotype for Polyommatus castro Reakirt, 1866 (currently Lycaena castro). The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 66(2):136-143. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-LYCHEL | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Mar 2020) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Feb 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
|
Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
|||||||||||
| Global Habitat Comments: | General, often in moist or disturbed areas; hosts in family Polygonaceae, incl. genera Rumex and Polygonum. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore:Immature
Nectarivore: Adult |
||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | Caterpillar Hosts: Knotweeds (Polygonum) and docks (Rumex) in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae), cinquefoils (Potentilla) in the rose family (Rosaceae). Adult Food: Flower nectar (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
|||||||||||
| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Occurs in North America: Pacific Coast from Alaska and southern Canada to northwestern Mexico, east to the Great Lakes region of Canada, Michigan, Kansas, and New Mexico. Range expanding in east. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 10, 2001 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
| No references available | |||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2001. Species Summary: Lycaena helloides. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).