biology

Lycaena dione

Lycaena dione is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lycaena dione rather than just read about it. In short: Lycaena dione, the grey copper or great copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1868.

Key takeaways

Lycaena dione belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lycaena dione to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lycaena dione from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lycaena dione, the grey copper or great copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1868. It is found from the southern Prairie provinces of Canada and western Ontario south to Texas and east to Illinois and Missouri. There is a disjunct population in southern British Columbia. A remnant population was found in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, as of the summer of 2004. The wingspan is 24–38 mm. Adults are on wing from mid-June to July or August. They feed on the nectar of Cirsium, Medicago sativa, Grindelia species and Melilotus species. The larval host plants are Rumex salicifolius, Rumex crispus and Rumex occidentalis.

Taxonomy Lycaena dione is sometimes treated as a subspecies of Lycaena xanthoides.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lycaena dione

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lycaena dione claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lycaena dione before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lycaena dione ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lycaena dione

In research: Lycaena dione appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lycaena dione in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lycaena dione is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Butterflies described in 1868, Butterflies of North America, Lycaena, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lycaena dione outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lycaena dione in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lycaena dione means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lycaena dione out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lycaena dione in simple terms?

Lycaena dione, the grey copper or great copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by Samuel Hubbard Scudder in 1868.

Why does Lycaena dione matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lycaena dione?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lycaena dione.