| Family | Lycaenidae |
|---|---|
| Subfamily | Lycaeninae |
| Genus | Lycaena |
| Species | hippothoe |
| Authority | (Linnaeus, [1760]) |
| English Name | Purple-edged Copper |
| European Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
|---|---|
| EU 27 Red List 2010 | Near Threatened (NT) |
| European Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| EU 27 Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| Habitats Directive | |
| Bern Convention | |
| CITES |
The Purple-edged Copper occurs on wet to damp grasslands, where the male butterflies attract the attention, perched on a tall grass or other plant, watching over their territory. The populations are mostly very local, but in a meadow, the butterflies can often be very numerous. The eggs are laid on various sorrels (Rumex spp.). At first the small caterpillar only shaves off a few cell layers on the leaf surface, so making translucent “windows”, but later they feed on the whole leaf. The caterpillar hibernates when still small, and completes its growth in the spring, pupating in the litter layer. It has one brood a year. In southern part of its range the species has two generations and can be found on
Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders (Irregular Vagrant) / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Croatia / Czechia / Denmark / Estonia / Finland / France / France: Mainland / Germany / Hungary / Italy / Italy: Mainland / Latvia / Liechtenstein / Lithuania / Luxembourg / Netherlands (Regionally Extinct) / Norway / Poland / Romania / European Russia / Serbia / Serbia: Serbia / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Spain: Mainland / Sweden / Switzerland / Ukraine /