Blue Copper, Pupa-  Lycaena  heteronea heteronea
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For photos of eggs and larvae, scroll down.   For other photos/information, click on
       FEMALE
      FEMALE EMERGENCE       MALE     MALE EMERGENCE     LARVA     SPECIMEN
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#8 Pupa formed 30 May 2009
#8 pupa formed 30 May 2009
#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development on 7 June 2009

#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development on 7 June 2009


#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development 7:13 A.M.  8 June 2009


#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development 7:13 A.M.  8 June 2009


#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development 2:41 P.M.  8 June 2009
Five minutes before butterfly emerged



#3 Male Pupa formed 1:05 P.M. 30 May 2009
Photo showing development 7:13 A.M.  8 June 2009
Four minutes before butterfly emerged


#10 Female Pupa formed 6:30 P.M. 31 May 2009 - 3/8 Inch long
Photo showing development on 9 June 2009


#10 Female Pupa formed 6:30 P.M. 31 May 2009
Photo showing development 8:05 A.M. 10 June 2009


#10 Female Pupa formed 6:30 P.M. 31 May 2009
Photo showing development 8:06 A.M. 10 June 2009


#10 Female Pupa formed 6:30 P.M. 31 May 2009
Photo showing development 11:02 P.M. 10 June 2009
Twelve minutes before female emerged


#10 Female Pupa formed 6:30 P.M. 31 May 2009
Photo showing development 11:03 P.M. 10 June 2009
Eleven minutes before female emerged













Photo Details - ©Nicky Davis
Female located July 16, 2007. Guardsman Pass, Salt Lake County, Utah.  Ova laid July 17, 2007.  After a few days these were put into the refrigerator to hibernate.  They were kept fresh by keeping them taped to the side of a clay pot with a sauce cup full of water in the bottom. The clay pot was then placed in a plastic bowl with a lid on but opened at one side for circulation.  They were checked every other week in attempt to keep them hydrated but not so damp that they would mold.

However, this method did not work and none of the  ova eclosed.

In the summer of 2008, I located another female and again  over wintered the ova.  This time I put them into a chiffon hammock hanging inside a solo cup pierced with a needle on every surface.  The solo cup was then put inside another plastic container that had other hibernating insects in it.  It  had  two holes in it to provide some ventilation and two open solo cups full of water for hydration.  The temperature was gradually brought down to freezing.  This method worked and most of the ova hatched.

Eggs were removed from hibernation 6 May 2009 and when they hatched, 8 May 2009,  they were placed on a bouquet of  Eriogonum heracleoides.  They did well on this plant and went on through to pupa, then butterflies.

Life History
Egg:  overwinters as egg
Larva:  22 to 24 days
Pupa:  9 to 10 days

Host plant :  Buckwheats - Eggs laid on Sulfur Buckwheat -  Eriogonum umbellatum
Fed on  Parsnipflower Buckwheat - Eriogonum heracleoides



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