Genus Chrysophanus Doubleday (the Coppers)
Small butterflies with the upper side of the wings some shade of coppery red or orange, often glossed with deep purple. On the under side the wings are marked with a multitude of spots and lines. Egg hemispherical, flattened on the base, pitted above with polygonal or circular depressions. Larva slug-shaped, thickest in the middle and tapering either way, head very small. Chrysalid rounded at either end, and supported by a silken girdle a little forward of the middle.
The genus is found in both hemispheres. There are over a dozen species in the United States, five of which we have selected for illustration.
(1) Chrysophanus xanthoides (Boisduval), Plate LXXXVIII, Fig. 2, ♂ (The Great Copper).
This is the largest species of the genus in America. On the under side the wings are creamy white, and the spots of the upper side reappear as black markings, which show forth very distinctly on the lighter ground. Expanse 1.50-1.65 inch.
The species is confined to the western half of the continent.
(2) Chrysophanus hypophlæas (Boisduval), Plate LXXXIX, Fig. 1, ♀ (The American Copper).
This is one of the commonest butterflies in the United States. Everybody has seen it flitting about upon lawns and in gardens. The figure we give is unmistakable. Expanse 1.00 inch.
The caterpillar feeds upon common sorrel (Rumex acetosella). The insect ranges from Hudson Bay to the Gulf States, but does not invade the hot belt about the Gulf.
(3) Chrysophanus epixanthe (Boisduval & Leconte), Plate LXXXIX, Fig. 2, ♂ (The Least Copper).
The smallest species in the genus, confined to the north. The male above has the wings fuscous, shot with violet, with a few red spots near the anal angle of the hind wings. The female is pale gray above, more profusely marked with dark spots than the male. Below the wings are pale gray sprinkled with bluish scales at the base, marked as above. Expanse 0.85-0.95 inch.
Common from Newfoundland to British Columbia, never south of New England.
(4) Chrysophanus thoë (Boisduval & Leconte), Plate LXXXIX, Fig. 3, ♂ (The Bronze Copper).
The female differs from the male in having the fore wings bright coppery red, marked with a number of dark spots, three in the cell, one below it, and an irregular transverse band of them crossing the limbal area. The outer margin is heavily banded with fuscous. Below the fore wing is tawny red in both sexes, pale gray at the apex; the hind wings are bluish gray with a broad band of carmine on the outer margin. Both wings underneath profusely adorned with small black spots. Expanse 1.30-1.40 inch.
Ranges from Maine to Colorado, southward to northern Virginia.
(5) Chrysophanus helloides (Boisduval), Plate XC, Fig. 1, ♂ (The Purplish Copper).
The male has the wings on the upper side broadly shot with iridescent purple; the female, which is larger than the male, has the wings red, with less iridescence. Below the fore wings in both sexes are pale red, the hind wings reddish gray with a marginal row of brick-red crescents. Expanse 1.15-1.30 inch.
Ranges from northern Illinois to British Columbia.