Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus)
2018 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
This species seems to be quite widespread, appearing in most localities I have visited in France, but not in great numbers. The female has the usual upperside copper markings, but the male is uniformly dark brown with some orange submarginal marks, with the upf black markings showing up clearly. The male underside often has a silvery-grey-white ground colour with a “square” corner at the hindwing anal angle, whereas the female is more rounded, with heavier, more orange markings. |
A delightful little butterfly that seems quite easy to follow as it has a habit or returning to the same place. It has wide altitude range, from lowland areas, up to 2000m or more. At high altitudes in the Alpes, the dark, almost black, subspecies subalpinus predominates; this is true for both sexes. |
ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
8503 | M |
a fresh (perfect white margins) and fairly typical male of the nominate form, with slightly stronger than normal orange lunules especially on the upf. |
700 |
36797 | M | a male, fairly normal, the unusual feature being that it was seen in a lowland location (see the altitudes for other specimens) not far from the coast. In September 2013 I saw a rather worn female egg-laying there, the first time I had seen tityrus in this location that I had visited regularly over most of the past decade, and in a region where no sightings had been recorded within about 30km. 36805 is the underside. | 20 |
17207 | M |
a male of the subspecies subalpinus. |
1875 |
8511 | F |
a typical, if slightly worn, female of the nominate form. |
700 |
33277 | F | a typical female, albeit not quite fresh. | 1250 |
36805 | M | a male, the underside of 36797. | 20 |
7371 | F |
a female upperside of the subspecies subalpinus, with slightly stronger than normal marginal markings, even a slight hint of orange, on both the upf and uph. |
2100 |
19022 | M |
a male of the nominate form. |
480 |
11808 | M |
a male of the subspecies subalpinus. |
2100 |
26366 | M | a fresh male, the delicate beige ground colour contrasting nicely with the black markings and the submarginal orange band. | 1000 |
14061 | F |
a typical female of the nominate form. |
780 |
33178 | F | a female underside, the unf being rather more orange than the norm. | 1250 |
17147 | F |
a female of the subspecies subalpinus, very fresh and with beautifully subtle colouring. |
1875 |
8503_male_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_24Jul07
17207_male_Alpes-Maritimes_04Jul09 - subalpinus
8511_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_24Jul07
33277_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_1Jul13
7371_female_Alpes-Maritimes_24Jun07 - subalpinus
11808_male_Alpes-Maritimes_30Jun08 - subalpinus
26366_male_Alpes-Maritimes_06Jul11
33178_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_30Jun13
17147_female_Alpes-Maritimes_03Jul09 - subalpinus