American Copper Butterfly: Lycaena phlaeas
I love making these little vintage stamp paintings. I've been including butterflies in the last
few, because I have been trying to learn more about them. This one is an American Copper Lycaena phlaeas. Coppers are mainly found in northern regions of the north american continent. They're pretty tiny, but brightly colored. It is thought that the eastern populations were introduced from Europe. The larvae of the easterns mainly feed on sheep sorrel. I have seen these little guys flitting about my prairie patch in our backyard.
Beautiful butterfly, lovely copper colour. They are quite fascinating, it's disappointing that we don't see too many these days. I remember as a child looking for their chrysalis under the windowsills around the house, never seem to see any now?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Julie. There aren't as many around as there used to be. Most likely due to loss of habitat. For my part I have tried to plant butterfly friendly plants in my yard, and I have noticed an increase in diversity of species that visit.
ReplyDelete"Oooh, this is very pretty!" <-- my exact words as I entered the website. "What's very pretty?" answered my boyfriend, confused, till he saw what I was looking at. He agrees now :)
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