Valais,
Switzerland, July 2009
form eurydame, lacking purple hues
Vaud,
Switzerland, June 2007
Valais,
Switzerland, June/ July 2007
Piedmont,
Italy, June 2007
Valais,
Switzerland, July/Aug 2008
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2008
Valais,
Switzerland, July/ August 2010
Bern,
Switzerland, July 2006
Vaud,
Switzerland, July 2006
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2006
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2006
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2005
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2005
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2005
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2004
A hint of
purple on this example of eurydame.
Valais,
Switzerland, July 2004
Piedmont,
Italy, June 2004
Classic
eurydame with reduced black and no purple reflections.
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
A stunning individual. More photos below.
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
A stunning individual. More photos below.
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
Female
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
NW Italy, July
2003
More typical
individual with somewhat less purple
Tatra
Mountains, Slovakia, July 2001
Some males of this species can be absolutely
stunning, as in the first photo above. They are bright shiny orange red
and varying extent of purple sheen that changes with the angle of
viewing. The male above has much more purple than any other specimen
I've seen. Subspecies eurydame flies in the Alps. It lacks the
purple reflections found elsewhere on the typical subspecies
hippothoe.
Its range matches closely that of the Scarce Copper, L.
virgaureae, flying in northern Spain and eastwards from eastern
France, north to Scandinavia but not as far south being replaced in the
Balkans by the very similar Balkan Copper, L. candens. It is a
butterfly of damp flowery meadows and roadside ditches.