In the grasses, in the meadows, by the wood’s edges, down along the sparkling streams, the coppers play. Merry is their dancing and happy their flight from flower to flower. The under-wings are duller than the bright-colored upper-wings so that their defense against enemies is not often to fly from them, but to hide quickly in the grass or flowers, cling to a stem and fold the wings together. The dull colors merge with the foliage around them, hiding them. But sometimes one is seen to fly right into the heart of a copper-colored flower and then the wings are spread flat so that the bright upper wing color merges with the flower’s bright colors.

Continue reading “Lustrous Copper 光彩夺目的铜蝴蝶 (Family Lycaenidae, Coppers, Blues and Hairstreaks)” →