Identifying features
Wingspan 26–32 mm. The male has a reddish-orange wing upperside; the female has reddish-orange forewings with dark spots and a darker brown hindwing upperside with reddish-orange bands with dark round spots along the edge. The forewing underside is orange with dark spots; the hindwing underside has few dark round spots, a yellowish-orange band along the wing edge, and within some white spots. The hindwing has a slight tail.
Similar species
Females can be confused with small copper, but scarce copper wing undersides are clearly different, featuring, among other characteristics, white spots on the quite orange undersides of the hindwings (folded).
Distribution
In the southeastern Sweden region, Finland and Norway; it is found in Europe and eastward in Asia, up to China. The species has experienced a decline in Europe, but a more stable population in the Nordic countries.
Biology
The egg is round and somewhat flat, with a rough, dotted pattern. The larva is greenish, with short, light hairs, without marked longitudinal stripes.