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Tailed Copper
Lycaena arota (Boisduval, 1852)
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Lycaeninae
Identification: Each hindwing of both sexes has a tail. Upper surface of male copper-brown with iridescent purple sheen; female with orange and dark brown pattern. Underside of both sexes gray; forewing with black spots, hindwing with black scrawls and a band of submarginal white crescents.
Wing Span: 1 1/8 - 1 3/8 inches (3 - 3.5 cm).
Life History: Males perch in open areas, often near watercourses or ravines, in the morning to watch for females. Eggs are laid singly on host plant or on debris under it, and hibernate until the following spring. Caterpillars eat leaves.
Flight: One flight from May-August.
Caterpillar Hosts: Leaves of gooseberry and currant (Ribes species) in the Grossulariaceae family.
Adult Food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Open mixed woodland, sagebrush, chaparral.
Range: New Mexico north and west to Oregon, south to southern California and Baja California.
Conservation: Clouded copper, subspecies nubila, has greatly declined in the vicinity of Los Angeles, California. Lycaena arota nubila has The Nature Conservancy rank of T1 - Critically imperiled because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range).
NCGR:
Management Needs: Conserve remaining habitat of clouded copper. Consider habitat rehabilitation and reintroduction.
Comments: NULL
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Verified Sightings
Displaying 337 - 360 of 398 verified sightings
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Region: Sandoval County, New Mexico, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Emery County, Utah, United States
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Region: Kane County, Utah, United States
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Region: Fresno County, California, United States
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Region: Custer County, Colorado, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Humboldt County, Nevada, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Sanpete County, Utah, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Madera County, California, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Grand County, Colorado, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Nye County, Nevada, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Napa County, California, United States
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Region: Mineral County, Colorado, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Coos County, Oregon, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: San Diego County, California, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Saguache County, Colorado, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Yamhill County, Oregon, United States
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Region: Sierra County, California, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier
Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Uintah County, Utah, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier
Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Alpine County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier
Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Tuolumne County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier
Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Region: Calaveras County, California, United States
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Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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Submitted by: legacy.reporter
Region: Alamosa County, Colorado, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier
Verified date: Dec 31, 2004
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