Butterfly (Common Copper) Lycaena salustius
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
(unranked): Rhopalocera
Superfamily: Papilionoidea
Family: Lycaenidae
Subfamily: Lycaeninae
Genus: Lycaena
Species: L. salustius
Binomial name: Lycaena salustius
Common name: Common copper, Pepe Para Rki, Rauparaha's Copper
The Common Copper (Lycaena salustius) is a small butterfly up to 33 mm of the Lycaenidae family. It is found only in New Zealand.
They are common in mid summer in warm open places and are attracted to blackberry flowers. places Markings are very variable, especially the female. The green slug like caterpillars of this butterfly feed on the plant species: Polygonaceae, Muehlenbeckia and Rumex
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