ImagiNature Studio

Nova Scotia Coppers...Part 1 

The day I found the Acadian Hairstreaks (see Another Rare Nova Scotia Butterfly) I was actually looking to photograph this butterfly, the Bronze Copper, Lycaena hyllus. I knew that they could be found at the Wallace Bay NWA but hadn't had a chance to photograph them on previous visits. I'm happy to say that this time I was successful. This is a male photographed July 20.

Another Copper that flies at the Wallace Bay NWA is the Maritime endemic Salt Marsh Copper, Lycaena dospassosi. One of only five species of butterflies found nowhere else in the world except Canada, the Salt Marsh Copper is known only from Quebec's Gaspe Bay peninsula, and the three Maritime provinces (NB, NS and PEI). This is the ventral or underside of a male photographed on July 20.

This is the dorsal or upperside of the male Salt Marsh Copper, Lycaena dospassosi, photographed at Wallace Bay NWA on July 20.

This is the ventral or underside of a female Salt Marsh Copper, Lycaena dospassosi, photographed at Wallace Bay NWA, July 20.

This is the dorsal or upperside of a female Salt Marsh Copper, Lycaena dospassosi, photographed at Wallace Bay NWA, July 20.

 

In Part 2, I'll illustrate two of the other three species of Copper that can be found in Nova Scotia