Whilst birdwatching in the Abha area in the mountains of the west of the Kingdom I came across a couple of Small Copper butterflies Lycaena (phlaeas) shima. This was once thought to be a subspeces of Small Copper but has since been elevated to full species. It 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.
