Lycaena is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 with a world-wide range. It is commonly divided into several subgenera, such as Antipodolycaena

Antipodolycaena

Antipodolycaena is a subgenus of the genus Lycaena which is found only in New Zealand. Antipodolycaena includes four species that are endemic to New Zealand:*Lycaena boldenarum*Lycaena feredayi*Lycaena rauparaha...

. Many formerly independent genera are nowadays subsumed within Lycaena, and the genus Gaiedes may well belong herein too.

Species

Listed alphabetically within groups:

The helle species-group:

• Lycaena helle
  Lycaena helle
  The Violet Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from the Pyrenees to Northern Norway and from Belgium to Central Asia....
  
  ([Schiffermüller], 1775) – Violet Copper
• Lycaena irmae Bailey, 1932
• Lycaena li (Oberthür, 1886)
• Lycaena ouang (Oberthür, 1891)
• Lycaena pang (Oberthür, 1886)
• Lycaena svenhedini (Nordström, 1935)
• Lycaena tseng (Oberthür, 1886)

The phlaeas species-group:

• Lycaena cupreus (Edwards, 1870) – Lustrous Copper
• Lycaena kiyokoae Sakai, 1978
• Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus, 1761) – Small Copper, Common Copper, American Copper
• Lycaena sichuanica
  Lycaena sichuanica
  Lycaena sichuanica is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Sichuan in China. The species was described in 2001 and in 2009 the first female specimens were found....
  
  Bozano & Weidenhoffer, 2001

Unknown species group:

• Lycaena bathinia Snellen, 1899
• Lycaena clarki
  Lycaena clarki
  The Eastern Sorrel Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found only in South Africa.The wingspan is 21–27 mm in males and 22–30 mm in females. The butterfly flies year-round, peaking in summer....
  
  Dickson, 1971 – Eastern Sorrel Copper
• Lycaena evansii (de Nicéville, 1902)
• Lycaena kasyapa
  Lycaena kasyapa
  The Green Copper is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.-References:* Evans, W.H. The Identification of Indian Butterflies...
  
  (Moore, 1865) – Green Copper
• Lycaena orbitulus
  Lycaena orbitulus
  The Greenish Mountain Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Asia and Europe.-Description:Race jaloka found in India was earlier called Polyommatus jaloka Moore, 1874. There is considerable variation in the species.The male has the upperside brown with metallic green or blue...
  
  (Esper, 1800) – Greenish Mountain Blue
• Lycaena orus
  Lycaena orus
  The Western Sorrel Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found only in South Africa.The wingspan is 21–27 mm. The butterfly flies year-round, peaking in summer....
  
  (Stoll, [1780]) – Western Sorrel Copper
• Lycaena ottomanus
  Lycaena ottomanus
  Lycaena ottomanus is a species of butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat...
  
  (Lefèbvre, 1830)
• Lycaena pallida Miskin, 1891
• Lycaena panava (Westwood, 1852)
• Lycaena pavana
  Lycaena pavana
  The White-bordered Copper is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.-References:* Evans, W.H. The Identification of Indian Butterflies...
  
  (Kollar, [1844]) – White-bordered Copper
• Lycaena standfussi (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891)
• Lycaena susanus (Swinhoe, 1889)
• Lycaena tityrus
  Lycaena tityrus
  The Sooty Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is . The butterfly flies from April to September, depending on the location.The larvae feed on Rumex acetosa and Rumex acetosella....
  
  Poda, 1761 – Sooty Copper
• Lycaena virgaureae (Linnaeus, 1758) – Scarce Copper
• Lycaena younghusbandi
  Lycaena younghusbandi
  Albulina younghusbandi is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Asia.-Description:Male upperside: dark satiny brown with a slightly plumbeous tint in certain lights, more apparent towards the bases of the wings than over the outer portions...
  
  Elwes, 1906
• Lycaena zariaspa (Moore, 1874)

The thersamolycaena species-group:

• Lycaena aeolus Wyatt, 1961
• Lycaena aeolides (Churkin, 1999)
• Lycaena alciphron (Rottemburg, 1775) – Purple-shot Copper
• Lycaena dispar (Haworth, 1802) – Large Copper
• Lycaena splendens (Staudinger, 1881)
• Lycaena violaceus (Staudinger, 1892)

The thersamonia species-group:

• Lycaena aditya Moore, [1875]
• Lycaena alaica (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888)
• Lycaena alpherakyi Grum-Grshimailo, 1888
• Lycaena attila (Zhdanko, 1990)
• Lycaena asabinus (Herrich-Schäffer, [1851])
• Lycaena hyrcana (Neuburger, 1903)
• Lycaena kurdistanica Riley, 1921
• Lycaena ochimus (Herrich-Schäffer, [1851])
• Lycaena phoebus (Blachier, 1905) – Moroccan Copper
• Lycaena solskyi Erschoff, 1874
• Lycaena thersamon
  Lycaena thersamon
  The Lesser Fiery Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Eastern Europe, Italy and South-East Europe to Mongolia and North-Western China.The wingspan is 14-16 mm...
  
  (Esper, 1784) – Lesser Fiery Copper
• Lycaena thetis
  Lycaena thetis
  The Golden Copper is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.-References:* Evans, W.H. The Identification of Indian Butterflies...
  
  Klug, 1834 – Fiery Copper or Golden Copper

The phoenicurusia species-group:

• Lycaena margelanica (Staudinger, 1881)

The hyrcanana species-group:

• Lycaena caspius (Lederer, 1869)
• Lycaena ophion Hemming, 1933
• Lycaena pamira (Nekrutenko, 1983)
• Lycaena sartha (Staudinger, 1886)
• Lycaena sultan (Lang, 1884)

The tharsalea species-group:

• Lycaena arota
  Lycaena arota
  The Tailed Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from New Mexico north and west to Oregon, south to southern California and Baja California....
  
  (Boisduval, 1852) – Tailed Copper

The thaeides species-group:

• Lycaena dione
  Lycaena dione
  The Grey Copper or Great Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from the southern Prairie Provinces of Canada and western Ontario south to Texas and east to Illinois and Missouri. There is a disjunct population in southern British Columbia.The wingspan is 24–38 mm. Adults...
  
  (Scudder, 1868)
• Lycaena editha Mead, 1878 – Edith's Copper
• Lycaena gorgon (Boisduval, 1852) – Gorgon Copper
• Lycaena xanthoides (Boisduval, 1852) – Great Gray Copper

The hyllolycaena species-group:

• Lycaena hyllus
  Lycaena hyllus
  The Bronze Copper is a butterfly of the lycaenids family found in North America.- Description :Upperside has a brown background with golden zig-zag borders along the margins of the hindwings. Females have lighter areas in the forewings with several dark spots within the lighter areas...
  
  (Cramer, [1775]) – Bronze Copper

The chalceria species-group:

• Lycaena ferrisi Johnson & Balogh, 1977 – Ferris' Copper
• Lycaena heteronea Boisduval, 1858 – Blue Copper
• Lycaena rubidus (Behr, 1866) – Ruddy Copper

The epidemia species-group:

• Lycaena dorcas
  Lycaena dorcas
  The Dorcas Copper or Cinquefoil Copper is a species of Lycaeninae that occurs in North America. The species L. dospassosi was once considered the same as L. dorcas.- Description :...
  
  Kirby, 1837 – Dorcas Copper or Cinquefoil Copper
• Lycaena epixanthe
  Lycaena epixanthe
  The Bog Copper or Cranberry-Bog Copper is a North American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Adults like to sip drops of dew clinging to leaves and almost exclusively nectar on their host plant, Cranberries. Because of this, Bog Coppers will spend their entire lives within the area of a single...
  
  (Boisduval & Leconte, [1833]) – Bog Copper
• Lycaena helloides
  Lycaena helloides
  The Purplish Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Great Lakes area to British Columbia, south to Baja California....
  
  (Boisduval, 1852) – Purplish Copper
• Lycaena nivalis Boisduval, 1869 – Nivalis Copper
• Lycaena mariposa (Reakirt, 1866) – Mariposa Copper

The hermelycaena species-group:

• Lycaena hermes (Edwards, 1870) – Hermes Copper

The heodes species-group:

• Lycaena ottomanus
  Lycaena ottomanus
  Lycaena ottomanus is a species of butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat...
  
  (Lefèbvre, 1830) – Grecian Copper
• Lycaena tityrus
  Lycaena tityrus
  The Sooty Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is . The butterfly flies from April to September, depending on the location.The larvae feed on Rumex acetosa and Rumex acetosella....
  
  (Poda, 1761) – Sooty Copper
• Lycaena virgaureae (Linnaeus, 1758) – Scarce Copper

The palaeochrysophanus species-group:

• Lycaena candens (Herrich-Schäffer, [1844])
• Lycaena hippothoe (Linnaeus, 1761) – Purple-edged Copper

Subgenus Antipodolycaena

• Lycaena boldenarum White, 1862
• Lycaena feredayi
  Lycaena feredayi
  The Glade Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in New Zealand.The wingspan is 25–32 mm. Adults are on wing from November to December and from February to the beginning of April....
  
  (Bates, 1867) – Glade Copper
• Lycaena rauparaha (Fereday, 1877)
• Lycaena salustius
  Lycaena salustius
  The Common Copper is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in New Zealand.The wingspan is 24–35 mm. Adults are on wing from October to April.The larvae feed on Muehlenbeckia species.-External links:*...
  
  (Fabricius, 1793) – Common Copper