Whilst birdwatching in the Bani Saad area near Taif in
the west of the Kingdom I came across a good number of Small Copper butterflies
Lycaena phlaeas shima in various locations. The Small Copper is a fast
flying butterfly that, once settled, is unmistakable with its bright
copper-coloured forewings. The upperside forewings are a bright orange with a
dark outside edge border and with eight or nine black spots. The hindwings are
dark with an orange border. The undersides are patterned in a similar way but
are paler. The black spots on the forewings are outlined in yellow and the dark
colouring is replaced by a pale brownish, gray. The hindwings are the same
brown/grey colour with small black dots and a narrow orange border. It is
widespread and common across Europe, Asia, and North America, and also found in
North Africa south through to Ethiopia.
