One of the delights of September is a pristine, newly hatched, late brood small copper butterfly.
The park is ideal for small coppers. They favour open land like ours with its drifts of their preferred nectar sources: thistles, ragwort and fleabane.
At this time of year small coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) commonly feed on [1] ragwort and [2] fleabane and [3] bramble
Each summer, there are two or three generations of small coppers. In a good year there might even be a fourth with the adults flying right through until October. They are swift-flying butterflies which form small discrete colonies,
If this late generation butterfly is a female, she will lay her eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of the larva’s foodplant: common sorrel or broadleaved dock, both of which are plentiful in the reserve. It is these larvae, when they hatch, that will overwinter, beginning their hibernation before they moult for the third time. They will pupate in the spring and next year’s first generation of small copper butterflies will emerge.
Despite a long-term decline in distribution, this is still a widespread butterfly and is not currently a priority species for conservation effort
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
It has been a good year in the reserve for the Small Coppers. Another species that has proliferated of late in the Red Admiral, so distinctive. Anywhere within the reserve you will see them, all in pristine condition, so they must have just hatched the result of migration from the continent earlier in the year. Just hope that many will hibernate successfully here and give us a good start next year.