BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Lycaena heteronea
Blue Copper
| Scientific Name: | Lycaena heteronea Boisduval, 1852 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name: | Blue Copper | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-LYCHET | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Oct 2023) | ||||||||||
| 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: | This species is found in montane, subalpine, and cool coastal areas in grasslands, sage steppe, openings in pine woodlands, and canyons (Shapiro 2007; Pyle and LaBar 2018). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore:Immature
Nectarivore: Adult |
||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | Larval hosts are wild buckwheat (Eriogonum) in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae); adults nectar from flowers, including wild buckwheat (Shapiro 2007; Pyle and LaBar 2018). | ||||||||||
| 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: | This species occurs in southern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada and in the United States west of the Central Plains, from Washington to Montana south to New Mexico and west to central California (GBIF 2023). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | T. Cornelisse | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Oct 30, 2023 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Pyle, R.M. and C.C. LaBar. 2018. Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 462 pp. |
|||||||||||
Shapiro, A. 2007. Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions. Berkeley: University of California Press. |
|||||||||||
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. 2023. Species Summary: Lycaena heteronea. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 11, 2026).