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 145 - 168 of 397 verified sightings
Observation date: Jun 28, 1963
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Kenneth Denton)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: Jun 29, 1973
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Larry Orsak)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: Jun 03, 1972
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Bob Koyama)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: Jun 29, 1973
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Larry Orsak)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: May 28, 1972
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Charles Sexton)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: May 23, 1972
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Bob Koyama)
Region: Orange County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 06, 2010
Observation date: Jul 20, 1960
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom & John Emmel)
Region: Placer County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jun 26, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Andrew Kim)
Region: Los Angeles County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Aug 11, 1960
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Tom & John Emmel)
Region: Placer County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Aug 02, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Andrew Kim)
Region: Los Angeles County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jun 30, 1951
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Thomas W. Davies)
Region: Contra Costa County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jun 21, 1997
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Jeffrey Glassberg)
Region: Alameda County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jun 20, 1997
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Jeffrey Glassberg)
Region: Alameda County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jun 11, 1961
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Jeffrey Glassberg)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Jan 05, 2010
Observation date: Jul 02, 1922
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (J. A. Comstock)
Region: Los Angeles County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (J. A. Comstock)
Verified date: Jan 04, 2010
Observation date: Jul 18, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Ray Bruun)
Region: Shasta County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Dec 17, 2009
Observation date: unknown
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (John R. Heitzman)
Region: Mariposa County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (William H. Howe)
Verified date: Dec 17, 2009
Observation date: Jul 02, 1922
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (unknown)
Region: Los Angeles County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (William H. Howe)
Verified date: Dec 17, 2009
Observation date: Aug 06, 1922
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (unknown)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (William H. Howe)
Verified date: Dec 17, 2009
Observation date: Jul 08, 1933
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (John S. Garth)
Region: Mariposa County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Garth & Tilden)
Verified date: Dec 08, 2009
Observation date: Jul 27, 1956
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Oakley Shields)
Region: Mariposa County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Garth & Tilden)
Verified date: Dec 08, 2009
Observation date: Aug 26, 1957
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Oakley Shields)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Garth & Tilden)
Verified date: Dec 08, 2009
Observation date: Jul 23, 1934
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Edmund Godwin)
Region: Tuolumne County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Garth & Tilden)
Verified date: Dec 08, 2009
Observation date: Aug 01, 1958
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Oakley Shields)
Region: Mariposa County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Garth & Tilden)
Verified date: Dec 08, 2009
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