''Lycaena'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

. The genus range is

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and one in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as '' Antipodolycaena''. Many formerly independent genera are now subsumed within ''Lycaena''; the genus ''Gaiedes'' may also belong here. Many of the subgenera, species groups and species listed here may be

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

Species

Listed alphabetically within groups:''Lycaena''
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Subgenus ''Tharsalea'' Scudder, 1876: *''

Lycaena arota ''Lycaena arota'', the tailed copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from New Mexico north and west to Oregon, south to southern California and Baja California, Mexico. The average wingspan ranges from 30� ...

'' (Boisduval, 1852) – tailed copper Subgenus ''Chalceria'' Scudder, 1876:
The ''thaeides'' species group: *'' Lycaena dione'' (Scudder, 1868) *''

Lycaena editha ''Lycaena editha'', known generally as the Edith's copper or great gray copper, is a species of copper in the butterfly family Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-foo ...

'' (Mead, 1878) – Edith's copper California, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada *''

Lycaena gorgon ''Lycaena gorgon'', known generally as the gorgon copper or stream water-crowfoot, is a species of copper in the butterfly family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America, mainly in California. The MONA or Hodges number for ''Lycaena gorgon'' is ...

'' (Boisduval, 1852) – gorgon copper Nevada, California, Oregon *''

Lycaena xanthoides ''Lycaena xanthoides'', the great copper, is a species of copper in the butterfly family Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family (biology), family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 spec ...

'' (Boisduval, 1852) – great gray copper California The ''chalceria'' species group: *''

Lycaena ferrisi ''Lycaena'' is a genus of butterflies. The genus range is Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in New Guinea and one in Java. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as '' Antipo ...

'' Johnson & Balogh, 1977 – Ferris' copper Arizona *''

Lycaena heteronea ''Lycaena heteronea'', the blue copper, is an American butterfly that belongs to the gossamer-winged family. The butterfly is named so because of the bright blue hue of the upper side of the males' wings. Females are brown on their upper side. B ...

'' Boisduval, 1858 – blue copper *''

Lycaena rubidus ''Lycaena'' is a genus of butterflies. The genus range is Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in New Guinea and one in Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It ...

'' (Behr, 1866) – ruddy copper Subgenus Epidemia Scudder, 1876:
The ''hyllolycaena'' species group: *''

Lycaena hyllus ''Lycaena hyllus'', the bronze copper, is a butterfly of the lycaenids family found in North America.Jim P. Brock and K. Kaufman. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, New York, NY:Houghton Mifflin, 2003.775 __NOTOC__ Year 775 ( DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe ...

– bronze copper The ''epidemia'' species group: *''

Lycaena dorcas ''Lycaena dorcas'' is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, the gossamer-winged butterflies. Its common names include dorcas copper and cinquefoil copper. The species was first described by William Kirby in 1837. It is native to Nort ...

'' Kirby, 1837 – dorcas copper or cinquefoil copper *''

Lycaena dospassosi ''Lycaena dospassosi'', the maritime copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in eastern Canada.Lycaena epixanthe ''Lycaena epixanthe'', also known as the bog copper or cranberry-bog copper, is a North American species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Adults like to sip drops of dew clinging to leaves and almost exclusively nectar on their host plant, ...

'' (Boisduval & Leconte, 835 – bog copper, cranberry-bog copper *''

Lycaena helloides ''Lycaena helloides'', the purplish copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in North America from the Great Lakes area to British Columbia, south to Baja California. The wingspan is 30–38 mm. Adults are generally on ...

'' (Boisduval, 1852) – purplish copper *''

Lycaena nivalis ''Lycaena nivalis'', the lilac-bordered copper or nivalis copper,Lycaena mariposa ''Lycaena mariposa'', the mariposa copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western Canada and the United States.Lycaena hermes ''Lycaena hermes'', the Hermes copper, is a species of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Mexico and southern California in the United States. It is known from a small number of areas. Forest fires in the San Diego area in 2003 an ...

'' (Edwards, 1870) – Hermes copper Subgenus ''Antipodolycaena'' Smart, 1975: *''

Lycaena boldenarum ''Lycaena boldenarum'', the boulder copper, is a species of butterfly which is endemic to New Zealand, it is found on both North Island and South Island in a wide variety of open habitats including grassland, shingle and sand dunes. They are no ...

'' White, 1862 New Zealand *''

Lycaena feredayi ''Lycaena feredayi'', the glade copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults are on wing from November to December and from February to the beginning of April. Identifi ...

'' (Bates, 1867) – glade copper *''

Lycaena rauparaha ''Lycaena rauparaha'', Rauparaha's copper, Fereday’s copper or mokarakare is a species of butterfly endemic to New Zealand. It acquired its English common name because it occurred in the same coastal areas as the rangatira (chief) and war leade ...

'' (Fereday, 1877) New Zealand *'' Lycaena salustius'' (Fabricius, 1793) – common copper Unnamed subgenus:
The ''heodes'' species group: *'' Lycaena ottomanus'' (Lefèbvre, 1830) – Grecian copper *'' Lycaena tityrus'' (Poda, 1761) – sooty copper *''

Lycaena virgaureae The scarce copper (''Lycaena virgaureae'') is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae (copper or gossamer-winged butterflies). Appearance The lower surfaces of the back wings are yellowish and have only a few black dots; there are characteristic wh ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper The ''palaeochrysophanus'' species group: *'' Lycaena candens'' (Herrich-Schäffer,

844 __NOTOC__ Year 844 ( DCCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Spring – Battle of Mauropotamos: A Byzantine expedition under Theoktistos is sent to Anatolia (mod ...

South Europe, Caucasus, Transcaucasia *'' Lycaena hippothoe'' (Linnaeus, 1761) – purple-edged copper Subgenus ''Lycaena'' Fabricius, 1807:
The ''helle'' species group: *'' Lycaena helle'' ( chiffermüller 1775) – violet copper *'' Lycaena irmae'' Bailey, 1932 South Tibet *'' Lycaena li'' (Oberthür, 1886) West China *'' Lycaena ouang'' (Oberthür, 1891) Yunnan *'' Lycaena pang'' (Oberthür, 1886) West China, Tibet *'' Lycaena svenhedini'' (Nordström, 1935) China *'' Lycaena tseng'' (Oberthür, 1886) North Burma to West China The ''phlaeas'' species group: *'' Lycaena cupreus'' (Edwards, 1870) – lustrous copper *'' Lycaena kiyokoae'' Sakai, 1978 Afghanistan *''

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 eithe ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1761) – small copper, common copper, American copper *'' Lycaena sichuanica'' Bozano & Weidenhoffer, 2001 The ''thersamolycaena'' species group: *'' Lycaena aeolus'' Wyatt, 1961 West Pamirs, Afghanistan *'' Lycaena aeolides'' (Churkin, 1999) Gissar Range, Central Asia *'' Lycaena alciphron'' (Rottemburg, 1775) – purple-shot copper *''

Lycaena dispar The large copper (''Lycaena dispar'') is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. ''L. dispar'' has been commonly arranged into three subspecies: ''L. dispar dispar'', (single-brooded) which was commonly found in England, but is now extinct, ''L. d ...

'' (Haworth, 1802) – large copper *'' Lycaena splendens'' (Staudinger, 1881) Dzhungarsky Alatau, Tian-Shan (Central Asia) *'' Lycaena violaceus'' (Staudinger, 1892) The ''thersamonia'' species group: *'' Lycaena aditya'' (Moore,

875 __NOTOC__ Year 875 ( DCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * August 12 – Emperor Louis II dies in Brescia, after having named his cousin Carloman, son of King Louis th ...

West Pamirs, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North India *'' Lycaena alaica'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) Pamirs-Alai,

Gissar Range The Hisar Range, formerly the Gissar Range, is a mountain range in Central Asia, in the western part of the Pamir-Alay system, stretching over 200 km in the general east–west direction across the territory of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. G ...

, North east Afghanistan *''

Lycaena alpherakyi ''Lycaena'' is a genus of butterflies. The genus range is Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in New Guinea and one in Java. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as ''Antipod ...

'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888) East Pamirs, Northwest China *'' Lycaena attila'' (Zhdanko, 1990) Zaalaisky Mountains (Trans-Ili Alatau) Central Asia *'' Lycaena asabinus'' (Herrich-Schäffer,

851 __NOTOC__ Year 851 ( DCCCLI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Asia * Bagrat II Bagratuni, Armenian prince and leader of a rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate, is captured by the Abbasi ...

Turkey, Transcaucasia, Iran, Armenia *'' Lycaena hyrcana'' (Neuburger, 1903) North Iran to Central Asia *'' Lycaena kurdistanica'' (Riley, 1921) Armenia, Northeast Turkey, West Iran *'' Lycaena lampon'' Lederer,

870 __NOTOC__ Year 870 (Roman numerals, DCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 870th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 870th year of the 1st millennium, the 70th year of the 9th ce ...

Kopet-Dagh, Southeast Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan *'' Lycaena ochimus'' (Herrich-Schäffer,

Transcaucasia, Armenia, Caucasus Minor, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Talysh Mountains (Iran - Azerbaijan) *'' Lycaena phoebus'' (Blachier, 1905) – Moroccan copper Morocco *'' Lycaena solskyi'' Erschoff, 1874 Pamirs to Alay Mountains, Gissar Range, Darvaz Range, Tian-Shan, Kashmir, Samarkand *'' Lycaena thersamon'' (Esper, 1784) – lesser fiery copper *'' Lycaena thetis'' Klug, 1834 – fiery copper or golden copper The ''phoenicurusia'' species group: *'' Lycaena margelanica'' (Staudinger, 1881) South Tajikistan to Tien-Shan, Gissar Range, Darvaz, Alay, West Pamir, Babatag,

Karatau Karatau (, ''Qaratau'') is an administrative center in the Talas region located in the Jambyl Region in the south of Kazakhstan. It has an estimated population of roughly 30,000 in 1999. , the population is now 27,667. The largest city from Kar ...

, Teriklitau, Rangontau, Zailiisky Alatau, Lake Issyk-Kul mountains The ''hyrcanana'' species group: *'' Lycaena caspius'' (Lederer, 1869) Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range, North Iran, Afghanistan *'' Lycaena ophion'' Hemming, 1933 Kopet-Dagh, Gissar Range to Darvaz Tadzhikistan *'' Lycaena pamira'' (Nekrutenko, 1983) *''

Lycaena sartha ''Lycaena'' is a genus of butterflies. The genus range is Holarctic, with the exception of four species found in New Zealand, two in South Africa, one in New Guinea and one in Java. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as ''Antipod ...

'' (Staudinger, 1886) Gissar Range to Darvaz, Pamirs to Alay mountains, Northeast Afghanistan *'' Lycaena sultan'' (Lang, 1884) West Gissar Range (Zeravshansky, Ghissarsky, Baisuntau, Fanskie) Unknown species group: *'' Lycaena bathinia'' Snellen, 1899 dubious Java *'' Lycaena clarki'' Dickson, 1971 – eastern sorrel copper *'' Lycaena evansii'' (de Nicéville, 1902) Kashmir, Chitral *'' Lycaena kasyapa'' (Moore, 1865) – green copper *'' Lycaena orus'' (Stoll,

780 __NOTOC__ Year 780 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 780th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 780th year of the 1st millennium, the 80th year of the 8th c ...

– western sorrel copper *'' Lycaena ottomanus'' (Lefèbvre, 1830) *'' Lycaena pallida'' Miskin, 1891 New Guinea *'' Lycaena panava'' (Westwood, 1852) *''

Lycaena pavana ''Lycaena pavana'', the white-bordered copper, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenidae, lycaenids or blues family. See also *List of butterflies of India *List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae) References

* ...

'' (Kollar,

– white-bordered copper North India *'' Lycaena standfussi'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891) West China, Tibet *'' Lycaena susanus'' (Swinhoe, 1889) Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan *''

Lycaena tama ''Lycaena tama'', the Canterbury alpine boulder copper, is a species of Lycaeninae, copper which lives on the central South Island of New Zealand. Description A small butterfly with copper wings and a "marginal series of violet dots". It was nam ...

'' (Fereday, 1878) New Zealand *'' Lycaena tityrus'' Poda, 1761 – sooty copper *''

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – scarce copper *'' Lycaena zariaspa'' (Moore, 1874) West Himalayas, Kashmir, Northwest India

References

External links

images representing ''Lycaena''
at

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

{{Authority control Lycaeninae Lycaenidae genera Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius