Small Copper

Lycaena phlaeas

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 φλέγω (phlégo), "to burn up", or from the Latin floreo, "to flourish". Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this insect was recorded 757 times across 16 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 14°C (typically 9 to 15°C, from 11 areas). That holds across 20° of latitude, which suggests its timing follows temperature more than the calendar.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 46°N in April to 57°N in June, about 1,200 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.