www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

I'm running up the thread of my #1 favourite species, both for its "intelligence" (adaptability, dispersability) and spirit (several males were guarding the territory by attacking me). Not to mention they're pretty gorgeous, especially the newly emerged males.

But still, I've chosen a lady

To my pleasure, Large Copper is one of the most common Lycaenidae butterfly here, and my most photographed ("easy-to-snap") species.


Large Copper (Lycaena Dispar Rutilus), 2001-08-05 *** Northern Moravia, Czech Republic *** Olympus E-450 14-42 mm kit

You really know how to wind up the Brits, don't you!! We drove that species to extinction by a combination of collecting and draining the fens. That said, I'm glad it's still common out east. I took part in a conservation project on the Drava way back in 1994 and found it flying there, in boggy ground near the river - but the fear was that with the commercialisation of land following the fall of communism, and the inevitable development that would follow, such unspoilt habitats would be under threat.

Large copper is scarce in Switzerland and entirely absent from my region. I last saw it in France in 2008. Here's a male, to complement your female, deep in a marshy meadow, supping on its favourite yellow daisy flowers.



Guy

These are stunning butterflies, and ones that I hope I will become acquainted with before too long.

You have really earned the epithet of "The Annoying Czech" with that Large Copper photo!!!

Several years ago, I planned a trip to Wood Walton Fen to see the (re-introduced) British colony - it had even been featured in a TV programme but, alas, none emerged that year (or ever since)!

At least, 'ours' were a different sub-species - we never had rutilus.

Mike

EDIT: ours were dispar, with batavus being a a re-introduction which persisted for several years (with a lot of help!)

I have only ever seen these once, a single battered male just south of Bergerac in France......
very memorable too as it was the first copper other than phlaeas I ever saw.

I understand it is on the march north-westward...maybe in about 500 years...

Some pics from last year, I'm afraid to say.
I have been led to believe that these Large Coppers are descendants of the 'Woodwalton batavus race'.
Projects such as the Great Fen in Cambridgeshire may see their like flying once again

padfield wrote:You really know how to wind up the Brits, don't you!! We drove that species to extinction by a combination of collecting and draining the fens. That said, I'm glad it's still common out east. I took part in a conservation project on the Drava way back in 1994 and found it flying there, in boggy ground near the river - but the fear was that with the commercialisation of land following the fall of communism, and the inevitable development that would follow, such unspoilt habitats would be under threat.
Large copper is scarce in Switzerland and entirely absent from my region. I last saw it in France in 2008. Here's a male, to complement your female, deep in a marshy meadow, supping on its favourite yellow daisy flowers.

Interesting. The key element is they're somehow tolerating various mesophile and ruderal biotopes and tied to various types of dock(s), not only the water dock. Once I've read the docks have sort of "weed species" and "to be liquidated" status in the west. Nobody really cares about dock dispersion here For decades, this inevitably leads to the fastest area dispersion among the Central European butterflies - even to rather weird areas, like undermined places and agglomerations (where they're especially noticeable). It's almost suspiciously optimistic scenario for a "Natura 2OOO species".

The truth is, the species is not so fragile as it might seem to. On the contrary, they're very strong under suitable circumstances!

MikeOxon wrote:You have really earned the epithet of "The Annoying Czech" with that Large Copper photo!!!
Several years ago, I planned a trip to Wood Walton Fen to see the (re-introduced) British colony - it had even been featured in a TV programme but, alas, none emerged that year (or ever since)!
At least, 'ours' were a different sub-species - we never had rutilus.
Mike
EDIT: ours were dispar, with batavus being a a re-introduction which persisted for several years (with a lot of help!)

Actually, LC extinction dilemma was one of the first things I've read about UK butterflies; it somehow absorbed me. How demanding (in my eyes) such viable, ordinary species can be away in the Europe.

I didn't do much "butterflying" between 2002 and 2010. But from my childhood, I knew how inevitable are the summer posts with photos of LC, so I picked that annoying nick, following "The Annoying Orange" series on YouTube


Great snaps, PhiliB.


Not to be completely annonying, I have to admit that LC's fellow, Violet Copper, is in a real trouble here. With the sole (micro)population, re-introduced and rather "alpine" than "central european", and allegedly six (!) individuals seen in 2011. Nobody wants to tell me where the hell are they, so I'll have to go through the whole faunistic square. No surprise that the original Austrian habitat was reputedly destroyed.

The last "Czech Violet Copper" was persihed in 1952. The water reservoir was more important than the biotope..

http://www.greatfen.org.uk/about.php

I hope to see Large Coppers here one day. You are lucky Marek

The Annoying Czech wrote:Not to be completely annonying, I have to admit that LC's fellow, Violet Copper, is in a real trouble here. With the sole (micro)population, re-introduced and rather "alpine" than "central european", and allegedly six (!) individuals seen in 2011. Nobody wants to tell me where the hell are they,

Surely you where the helle they are?

I first saw Large Copper in 1997 on the banks of a river in the Dordogne, although I did not realise what it was until I got home and studied the photos. I have since seen it in two other places in the Dordogne, again both stumbled upon by chance. The only certainty regarding this species is that if you are not near water, you are unlikely to see it. Last year I was shown a site in western France that had a good colony (around 12 were seen there) and got this photo of a female underside. Violet Copper is one of the must-see species, being so unlike any other species. I was fortunate enough to be shown a site in western France which I would never have found in a million years of searching. The upperside is usually what makes the headlines but the underside is just as unique and appealing in my view:

I just re-made some August male, so I'm adding a second shot I find quite solid. I can't help myself, these guys are just so tame...

Roger, I must say I like both your website and your inventive 'where the helle they are' interjection.