''Euphydryas iduna'' is a small
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 ...
found in the
Palearctic
The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa.
The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
(Arctic Europe, Arctic Asia, Caucasus Major, Alatau, Russian Far East, Altai, Sayan)
that belongs to the
browns family.
Description from Seitz
M. iduna Dalm. (= maturna Hbn.) (65b). This butterfly represents the preceding species ''
Euphydryas maturna
The scarce fritillary (''Euphydryas maturna'') is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, R ...
'' in the high north of Europe and in the mountains of Northern Asia. Male and female not essentially different. All the spots of the central area are ivory yellow above, with the exception of the cell, which contains two red-brown spots on the forewing and one on the hindwing. The underside similar to that of ''
cynthia
Cynthia is a feminine given name of Greek origin: , , "from Mount Cynthus" on Delos island. The name has been in use in the Anglosphere since the 1600s. There are various spellings for this name, and it can be abbreviated to Cindy, Cyndi, Cyndy, ...
'', but the pale yellow median and marginal bands much broader, the former moreover not being divided by a black line as is the case in ''maturna'' and ''cynthia''. In Lapponia, Central and North-East Siberia, not rare. Specimens from the Altai differ from European ones in the stronger silvery gloss of the light markings, especially beneath. In ab. ''sulitelmica'' Schultz (65b) the light median band is narrower and the hindwing above is dusted with black. The species flies early in July in abundance on barren alpine meadows at altitudes of in company with ''
aurinia
:''The gastropod genus ''Aurinia'' is nowadays usually considered a junior synonym of '' Scaphella''.
''Aurinia'' is a genus of flowering plants of the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), native to mountainous areas of Central and Southern Europe, ...
'' and ''cinxia''.
[Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) ]
(MHNT) Euphydryas iduna iduna - Abisko Ostras - Suède - female dorsal.jpg, ''Euphydryas iduna'' ♀
(MHNT) Euphydryas iduna iduna - Abisko Ostras - Suède - female ventral.jpg, ''Euphydryas iduna'' ♀ △
Biology
The larva feeds on Arctic and montane species of ''
Plantago
''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though a ...
'', ''
Veronica'', ''
Vaccinium
''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whort ...
''.
See also
*
List of butterflies of Europe
This is a list of the 473 butterfly species which are found in Europe ''sensu lato'' (including Russia west of the Urals and the Caucasus region). Europe forms the western part of the Palearctic biogeographical zone and includes:
*Euro-Siberian re ...
References
Euphydryas
{{Nymphalidae-stub