''Boloria bellona'', the meadow fritillary, is a North American

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the brushfoot family,

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

. The common name, meadow fritillary, is also used for a European butterfly species, '' Melitaea parthenoides''.

Description

The upperside of the wings is yellow orange with dark spots, lines, and zigzagged bands. The forewing is squared off just below the apex. A dark border on the hindwing margin is lacking on most individuals. It has long palps. The underside of the wings are mottled with orange and purplish-brown. There is a yellowish band that runs across the center of the hindwing. It lacks the silver spots most lesser fritillaries have. The forewing is smudged with orange and brown near the apex. The wingspan of the meadow fritillary is 3.5 - 5.1 cm ( - 2 inches).

Similar species

Similar species in the meadow fritillary's range include the silver-bordered fritillary (''

Boloria selene ''Boloria selene'', known in Europe as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and in North America as the silver-bordered fritillary, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found across Europe, Asia and North America, and feeds ...

''), the bog fritillary (''

Boloria eunomia ''Boloria eunomia'', the bog fritillary or ocellate bog fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Description The length of the forewings is 20–24 mm. The wings are orange brown with dark markings. The color of the hindwing ...

''), and the purplish fritillary ('' Boloria chariclea''). The silver-bordered fritillary has rounder wings than the meadow fritillary, has a dark hindwing margin border, and has silver spots on the underside of the hindwing. The bog fritillary is a bit smaller than the meadow fritillary, its wing bases are hairy, and on the underside of the hindwing are a series of bands and patches which are rust red, yellow, and white. The purplish fritillary is also a bit smaller than the meadow fritillary, and the underside of the hindwings are a deep, rusty red.

Habitat

The meadow fritillary is frequently encountered in wet, open places, including pastures, fields, and streamsides.

Life cycle

The female is the active flight partner. Females deposit greenish-yellow

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

near the

host plant In biology and medicine, a host is a larger organism that harbours a smaller organism; whether a parasitic, a mutualistic, or a commensalist ''guest'' (symbiont). The guest is typically provided with nourishment and shelter. Examples include a ...

on twigs or leaves. Mature

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e are gray and black with small, light colored spines. The

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

is yellow brown. The meadow fritillary

overwinter Overwintering is the process by which some organisms pass through or wait out the winter season, or pass through that period of the year when "winter" conditions (cold or sub-zero temperatures, ice, snow, limited food supplies) make normal activi ...

s as a larva. It has one or two

broods Broods is a New Zealand musical duo from Nelson, composed of Georgia Josiena Nott on lead vocals, with older brother and multi-instrumentalist Caleb Allan Joseph Nott on production and backing vocals. They released the single "Bridges", which w ...

per year.

Host plants

Host plants used by the meadow fritillary: * Northern white violet, '' Viola pallens'' * Common blue violet, ''

Viola sororia ''Viola sororia'', known commonly as the common blue violet, is a short-stemmed herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names, including common meadow violet, purple violet, woolly bl ...

Image gallery

File:Meadow Fritillary, Megan McCarty49.jpg, Upperside File:Meadow Fritillary, Megan McCarty50.jpg, Underside File:Boloria.selene.2.jpg, Underside of silver-bordered fritillary for comparison File:Boloria.eunomia.2.jpg, Underside of the

bog fritillary ''Boloria eunomia'', the bog fritillary or ocellate bog fritillary, is a butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterfli ...

for comparison

References

* Brock, Jim P. and Kenn Kaufman. (2003). ''Butterflies of North America''. Houghton Mifflin, New York. * Shull, Ernest M. (1987) ''The Butterflies of Indiana''. by Indiana Academy of Science. * Cech, Rick and Guy Tudor (2005). ''Butterflies of the East Coast''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. * Wagner, David L. (2005). ''Caterpillars of Eastern North America''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

External links

Butterflies and Moths of North America - ''Boloria bellona''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boloria Bellona Butterflies of North America Boloria Butterflies described in 1775