Appearance: Above, male is striking red-orange with thin black margin and light colored fringes; females dull golden-brown with noticeable black spots on forewing and hindwing and thin black border with a white fringe at wings edges. Below, both are gray-white with a scattering of small black spots.

Wingspan: Small; 1 1/8 to 1 5/8 inches.

Habitat: Arid areas such as gravelly or sandy streamsides, sagebrush, dry fields, and meadow edges; foothills to sub-alpine.

Flight Times: June through August (earlier at lower elevations, later higher up); one brood.  Egg overwinters.

Larval Foodplant: Docks and alpine sorrel in the buckwheat family.

Did You Know…
Female coppers and ruddy coppers are quite similar and hard to tell apart away from their host plants (Pyle, 2002).