Small Copper aberration
Aberration is fairly frequently met with in this species and even quite small colonies can produce interesting forms year after year. It is always worth having a close look at any Small Copper that you see in the field.
Upperside ground colour can vary from pure silver-white through oranges and fiery reds, to deeply suffused specimens that appear almost entirely black. The amount of copper on the hindwing band can be greatly exaggerated or reduced to the point of absence. The number, size, and shape of the black forewing spots can also vary considerably on both the upperside and underside; and even the tails on the hind wings can be markedly exaggerated in length. Heavy suffusion on the upperside is probably environmentally triggered and can sometimes be met with relative frequency in the autumn generation following a particularly hot summer.
Rarely (as in other species) more than one genetically inherited aberration can be expressed in the same specimen. This becomes particularly impressive where, for example, the silver-white ab. schmidtii also expresses the blue markings on the hindwings known as ab. caeruleopunctata and the reduced forewing markings of ab. bipunctata. Such multiple aberrations are almost unknown in the wild but have been produced in captivity by selective pairing of aberrant imagines through successive generations. There are 140 named aberrations known to occur in Britain.
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Small Copper aberration
Aberration is fairly frequently met with in this species and even quite small colonies can produce interesting forms year after year. It is always worth having a close look at any Small Copper that you see in the field.
Upperside ground colour can vary from pure silver-white through oranges and fiery reds, to deeply suffused specimens that appear almost entirely black. The amount of copper on the hindwing band can be greatly exaggerated or reduced to the point of absence. The number, size, and shape of the black forewing spots can also vary considerably on both the upperside and underside; and even the tails on the hind wings can be markedly exaggerated in length. Heavy suffusion on the upperside is probably environmentally triggered and can sometimes be met with relative frequency in the autumn generation following a particularly hot summer.
Rarely (as in other species) more than one genetically inherited aberration can be expressed in the same specimen. This becomes particularly impressive where, for example, the silver-white ab. schmidtii also expresses the blue markings on the hindwings known as ab. caeruleopunctata and the reduced forewing markings of ab. bipunctata. Such multiple aberrations are almost unknown in the wild but have been produced in captivity by selective pairing of aberrant imagines through successive generations. There are 140 named aberrations known to occur in Britain.
Citation;