Looking at the pictures suggested that none of the Small Coppers on coastal sites had any blue scales, but a large proportion of those seen inland tended to. We speculated on the reasons for this, Abbie suggesting that it could be something to do with the mineral content of the food plants, as most of the inland sites were quarries in volcanic rock. I wondered about temperature, as others have mentioned this, but then checking pictures I have taken of European Small Copper I only found one that possibly had one blue scale on each wing.
We returned to the quarry yesterday and Abbie took a picture of each Small Copper we saw. Unfortunately, this dashed our theory, as probably more than half of the Small Coppers had no blue on them at all. However, when we looked closely (at the very obliging butterflies, which allowed us to approach very closely), some of them had the merest hint of blue - just one or two scales, while others had quite large blue patches. There was a real variation.
I would have thought that an aberration would be quite an obvious difference, but this seems more like a degree of variation.
I wonder if there is any difference between males and females?
I thought I would mention this on here and see what the collective wisdom can offer!
Here are some of Abbie's pictures.
- No Blue
- One or Two Blue Scales
- More Blue Scales
- Just one Blue Scale
- Well Defined Blue Marks
- And Again
