Observation date: August 07, 2020
Submitted by: Christian.Nunes
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: A nicely marked female seen at ~11,000 ft on the west side of the Sangre de Cristos. I know Scott has proposed to call these Lycaena florus sangremar, but I'm not sure where that officially stands. Definitely one of the Mountain Coppers rather than the typical Purplish seen commonly at lower elevations.
Status: Resident
Verified by: mikefisher
Verified date: November 22, 2020
Coordinator notes: Christian, I think this female is more like normal female Lycaena helloides which is found on the floor of the San Luis Valley. There are places where the range of variation can be from one extreme to the other and this apparently one of them. Female Lycaena florus sangremar are more heavily colored on the upper side than female florus florus (mountains in the northern half of Colorado) but not quite like the female subject in your photo. One of these days, we'll get the name florus added to the BAMONA database....politics. Mike
