''Boloria freija'', the Freija fritillary, is a

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

of the 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 ...

with a circumboreal distribution. It occurs in bogs and

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

. Its range includes Northern Europe to the north of 60° N, occasionally more southern locations, the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

, the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...

, mountains of northern

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

, as well as North America, extending in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

to 35° N.Львовский А.Л., Моргун Д.В. 2007. Булавоусые чешуекрылые Восточной Европы. Москва: КМК. . p. 323-324.Tolman, Tom & Richard Lewington. 1997. ''Butterflies of Britain and Europe. Field Guide.'' London: Collins. .

Description

''A. freija'' Thnbg. (— ''lapponica'' Esp., ''tullia'' O., ''freya'' Godt.) (68c). Upperside almost exactly as in '' dia'', the size also being the same. The hindwing beneath resembles that of '' chariclea'', but is more variegated, with a distinct silvery white band between the central and marginal areas; a large rhomboidal silver-spot in the centre of the costa and rather long silver-spots at the margin. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Biology

Larvae feed on ''

Rubus chamaemorus ''Rubus chamaemorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae, native to cool temperate regions, alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest. This herbaceous perennial produces amber-colored edible fruit similar to the blackbe ...

'', '' Dryas'' sp., ''

Vaccinium uliginosum ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' (bog bilberry, bog blueberry, northern bilberry or western blueberry) is a Eurasian and North American flowering plant in the genus ''Vaccinium'' within the heath family. Distribution ''Vaccinium uliginosum'' is native ...

'', ''

Arctostaphylos alpina ''Arctous alpina'' ( syn. ''Arctostaphylos alpina''), the alpine bearberry, mountain bearberry or black bearberry, is a dwarf shrub in the heather family Ericaceae. The basionym of this species is ''Arbutus alpina'' . Description ''Arctous alp ...

'', '' A. uva-ursi'', ''

Empetrum nigrum ''Empetrum nigrum'', crowberry, black crowberry, or, in western Alaska, blackberry, is a flowering plant species in the heather family Ericaceae with a near circumboreal distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually dioecious, but th ...

'', ''

Rhododendron aureum ''Rhododendron aureum'' is a flowering plant species in the genus ''Rhododendron''. Larvae of '' Boloria freija'' feed on ''Rhododendron aureum''. ''R. aureum'' produces (-)- rhododendrol, (-)-rhododendrin, avicularin and hyperoside Hyperosi ...

'', '' Rh. lapponicum''. The species produces one generation every two years.

References

freija Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1791 {{Heliconiinae-stub