[BACK TO LIST] SMALL COPPER Lycaena phlaeas
A species of fairly short and usually dry rough grassland, at low and medium altitudes. It used to abound on patches of waste land resulting from abandonment of industry, and regenerating demolition sites, as well as sloping river banks, but seems to have died out in many habitats that were once suitable. It seems to have persisted better at slightly higher altitudes. Although the maps do not suggest an appreciable decline, it is definitely not as commonaround Manchester as it was up to the 1980s and 1990s.
THE THREE PERIODS COMPARED
PERIOD 1 (1940-1994) WITH RECORDING COVERAGE, ALTITUDE AND URBAN COVER
PERIOD 2 (1995-2000) WITH RECORDING COVERAGE, ALTITUDE AND URBAN COVER
PERIOD 3 (2001-2007) WITH RECORDING COVERAGE, ALTITUDE AND URBAN COVER
