Bog Copper
June 2026
The Bog Copper (Lycaena epixanthe) is a tiny yellowish- orange/ white copper butterfly with many black spots on the underside and a few dashes on the forewing. There is a wavy orange line near the edge of the ventral side hindwing. From above they have a gray-copper tone with purplish iridescence on males. Females are a bit more dull gray-brown with more spots than males.
June 2021
This species has a very specific habitat - in or adjacent to bogs with cranberry flowers. They will often make very soft flights amid sedge grasses and are extremely tough to track and photograph. They do land to feed on the cranberry flowers as pictured above. The individual shown here in the grass was very distant but did take an extended rest on the perch which was very exciting considering it was my first experience with the species.
June 2021
Bog Coppers only fly for about a month from early June to early July and finding an easily-accessible location for observing them can be quite a challenge, but totally worth the effort to observe this incredible and unique species!!
