Observation date: June 01, 2013
Submitted by: Jamie Chavez
Specimen type: Photograph
Observation notes: Weather clear and warm with light winds. Found among roadside grasses
Status: Resident
Verified by: Ken Davenport
Verified date: June 08, 2013
Coordinator notes: Without a photo of the underside, these can be impossible to ID with assurance. Your butterfly is a male, but two other species (Lycaena nivalis and Lycaena mariposa)look just like yours above, so photos of the lower side can be important to identify (This coordinator found Lycaena nivalis flying last weekend at Quaking Aspenin the southern Sierra Nevada on June 2). Fortunately for me, only Purplish Coppers fly in southern California. Thanks for the Vandenberg AFB record because we can't get those from civilians. I know Gordon Pratt who did butterfly surveys there...Ken Davenport.
