#2391 · 🦋 butterflies & moths

Small Copper

🇳🇱 Kleine vuurvlinder ·Lycaena phlaeas

🦋 Butterflies & moths 📍 in the Netherlands

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

Lycaena phlaeas , the small copper , American copper , or common copper , is a butterfly of the Lycaenids or gossamer-winged butterfly family. According to Guppy and Shepard (2001), its specific name phlaeas is said to be derived either from the Greek phlego , "to burn up" or from the Latin floreo , "to flourish".

base stats

NL sightings 2,090iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 82,252iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 2,090 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #7 most seen of the butterflies & moths in NL.
82,252 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1761 (265 years ago).