Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas

Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus, 1761)
Status .....Common at most sites in Nottinghamshire, the Small Copper is a butterfly with very few habitat demands. It is certainly never found at any site in numbers; usually recorded singly, males persuing females, or males battling other males over territory. Often found on post-industrial brownfield sites, it is an early pioneering species of most of Nottinghamshire's former Collieries and disused railway lines etc. It does have a preference for areas where the vegetation is sparse, so is not often encountered deep within woodland, rather preferring the sides of rough forest tracks. Odd examples will occasionally turn up in gardens and in the untidy corners of urban parks and playing fields.
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Photographed at Warsop Main Pit Top September 2021

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Photographed at Eakring Meadows July 2009		Photographed at Budby South Forest August 2009

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Photographed at Eakring Meadows May 2003

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Photographed at Warsop Main Pit Top July 2006


Early stages
Ova/egg laid on Sheep's Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Photographed at Sherwood Heath, September 2022.

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1st instar larva (2.5mm length) on Sheep's Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Photographed at Sherwood Heath, October 2022.

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3rd instar larva (4 mm length) on Sheep's Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Photographed at Sherwood Heath, October 2022.

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4th instar larva (6mm length) on Sheep's Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Photographed at Sherwood Heath, November 2022.

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5th instar larva (8mm length) on Sheep's Sorrel Rumex acetosella. Photographed at Sherwood Heath, February 2023.

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Pupa, photographed March 2023.

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The records for the Nottinghamshire distribution map are currently provided by the following contributors - Richard Rogers. Trevor and Dilys Pendleton. David Shaw. Darren Matthews. Netherfield Wildlife Group. Martin Harvey. Pauline Bradford. Steve Horne. Wil Heeney. Nottingham City Council. Stuart Warrington. The National Trust (Clumber Park invertebrate records). Lound Moth Group. NBGRC. Tom Shields. Steven Chick. Peter Acton. Damian Taylor. Graham Birkett. David Shaw. Brian Wetton. Nick and Samantha Brownley.

You can contribute your own records to help us gain an accurate status of this species in Nottinghamshire. Send an Excel spreadsheet of your records via the 'contact us' link at the top of the homepage.

Updated January 2024


Nottinghamshire (VC56) distribution of Small Copper