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 169 - 192 of 397 verified sightings
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: Jun 15, 1962
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (J. W. Tilden)
Region: Santa Clara County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Oct 15, 2009
Observation date: Sep 08, 2009
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Oct 13, 2009
Observation date: May 28, 2004
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Fresno County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Sep 24, 2009
Observation date: Jun 10, 2006
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Kern County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Sep 24, 2009
Observation date: Aug 25, 1998
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Inyo County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Sep 24, 2009
Observation date: Jun 11, 2007
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Tulare County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Sep 24, 2009
Observation date: Jul 07, 1978
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Los Angeles County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Sep 24, 2009
Observation date: Jul 31, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Ray Bruun)
Region: Shasta County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 28, 2009
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: Aug 28, 2009
Observation date: Aug 21, 2009
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Ray Bruun)
Region: Shasta County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Sep 01, 1965
Submitted by: paulopler (Paul Opler)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: paulopler (Paul Opler)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: May 23, 1961
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Kern County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jul 29, 1999
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Mark Walker)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jun 09, 1990
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Kern County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jul 03, 2005
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Tulare County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Aug 08, 1979
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (Phil Nordin)
Region: Tulare County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jul 14, 1966
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Mariposa County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jul 20, 1986
Submitted by: Norbert Kondla (Norbert Kondla)
Region: Mono County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: May 08, 1976
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Kern County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Aug 25, 1998
Submitted by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Region: Inyo County, California, United States
Verified by: Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
Observation date: Jul 01, 1962
Submitted by: legacy.reporter (John F. Emmel)
Region: Kern County, California, United States
Verified by: legacy.verifier (Emmel & Emmel)
Verified date: Aug 27, 2009
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