Lycaena tityrus
species of insect
Lycaena tityrus, the sooty copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Europe.
Subspecies
Lycaena tityrus tityrus (Poda, 1761) TL: Graz, Austria. Throughout Europe from Russia to central N. Spain.
Lycaena tityrus subalpina (Speyer, 1851) TL: Patscherkofel, Innsbruck, Austria. In the Alps at high altitudes.
Lycaena tityrus praebleusei Verity 1934 TL: Puerto de Pajares, Asturias, Spain. In NW. Iberia and W. France.
Lycaena bleusei (Oberthür, 1884) which has often been considered a subspecies of L. tityrus, has recently been confirmed as a species on its own according to genetics, wing-pattern variation, niche modelling and distribution.
The wingspan is 28–30 millimetres (1.1–1.2 in).
The public source identifies “Lycaena tityrus” as species of insect. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lycaena, tityrus and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Lycaena tityrus”, the useful work is to connect “species of insect” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q901019. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1761, 1851, 1934 and 1884.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Lycaena tityrus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.