Balkan Copper

Lycaena candens

Lycaena candens is a small butterfly found in the Palearctic (Southeast Europe and Caucasus) that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Lycaena candens butterfly female - Balkan Copper Animalia,Arthropoda,Balkan Copper,Bistrishko Branishte Nature Reserve,Bulgaria,Butterflies,Europe,Geotagged,Gossamer-winged butterflies,Insecta,Lepidoptera,Lycaena candens,Lycaenidae,Papilionoidea,Summer,Vitosha Mountain Nature Park,Wildlife

Appearance

Lycaena candens (Herrich-Schäffer, [1844])
Very similar species is Purpled Edged Copper - Eurasian Lycaena hippothoe (Linnaeus, 1761), which has been reported south from Romania and North Balkan peninsula, but not reliably reported from Bulgaria until now.

The males have no blue sheen and the forewing above is entirely golden brown in the females; the black margin of the upperside is narrower in both sexes.
Lycaena candens Balkan Copper,Geotagged,Iran,Lycaena candens,Summer

Distribution

South Europe, from the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey to Iran and Caucasus.
Balkan Copper Butterfly Lycaena candens Balkan Copper,Balkan Copper Butterfly,Bulgaria,Geotagged,Lycaena candens,Lycaenidae,insect,lepidoptera,nature

Habitat

It is widespread in Bulgaria in the higher mountains, humid meadows and clearings, from 800 to 2200 m.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://www.butterfliesofbulgaria.com/lyccan.html
http://www.eurobutterflies.com/species_pages/candens.htm
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyLycaenidae
GenusLycaena
SpeciesLycaena candens
Photographed in
Bulgaria
Iran