Bronze Copper (Lycaena hyllus [Cramer])
Wing span: 1 1/4 - 1 7/8 inches (3.2 - 4.8 cm).
Identification: Upperside of male iridescent copper-brown; female forewing yellow-orange with black spots. Underside forewing of both sexes orange with black spots; underside hindwing is gray-white with black spots and a broad orange outer margin.
Life history: Males perch on low growth near host plants to watch for females. Eggs are laid singly on plants. Eggs hibernate until spring; caterpillars eat leaves.
Flight: Two in the north and west, from June-September; three in southern part of range, from May-November.
Caterpillar hosts: Herbs of the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae) including curly dock (Rumex crispus).
Adult food: Adults visit flowers only occasionally, but have been seen taking nectar at blackberry and red clover.
Habitat: Low, wet areas such as bogs, marshes, wet meadows, ponds.
Range: Maine west across southern Canada and the Great Lake states to Montana and central Colorado; south to Arkansas, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Maryland.
