Lycaena alciphron
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The purple-shot copper (Lycaena alciphron) is a butterfly in the family of the Lycaenidae or copper butterflies and in the genus of the Lycaena. The coloring of the males and the females is very different, i.e. the sexual dimorphism is very strong. The top sides of the wings are red-gold with black spots. The males fluoresce purple, while the females' top side is brown, also with black spots. The rear wings have submarginal spots.
The caterpillar is nocturnal and eats sorrel. The fully-grown butterfly feeds from wild thyme, ground-elder, and blackberry flowers. The purple-shot copper can be found in Europe, Morocco, and Turkey at heights between 500 and 900 meters.
This butterfly migrates from June to July. C. alciphron Rott. (= lampetie Schiff., virgaureae Hufn., hiere F., helle Bkh., hipponoe Esp.) (77 a), Lighter yellow and less golden [than hippothoe]; the upperside of the male in the name-typical form quite unlike that... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-Shot Copper sighting in Ecrins National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 87th most-seen of the 251 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Purple-Shot Copper in Ecrins National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. That is one of Ecrins National Park's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain against 160 mm in December.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple-Shot Copper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Purple-Shot Copper sightings, Ecrins National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain, about 20%), Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 20%) and Mercantour National Park (France, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Purple-Shot Copper is recorded against all the insects logged in Ecrins National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
