''Fabriciana elisa'', the Corsican 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 ...

. It is found in Corsica and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

. This is a mountain butterfly, found on grassy vegetation in clearings in deciduous woods.

Description in Seitz

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...

is 45–60 mm. ''A. elisa'' Godt. (= ''cyrene'' Bon., ''eliza'' Lang) (69b). The same size as ''clara'', but distinctly a transition to ''aglaja''. Rather variable, above fiery brown-red to light orange-yellow, the black markings rather small and at the distal margin almost obsolete. The hindwing beneath entirely dusted over with green, sometimes a small patch before the distal margin excepted; the silver-spots numerous but small, angular, sometimes reduced to heavy dots or comma-spots, the central ones having usually a dark edge. — The species is restricted to the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia, where it is locally abundant in June and July, for instance on the Monte Gennargentu near Lanusei.

Biology

Adults are on wing from July to August. The larvae feed on ''

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

'' species, including ''

Viola tricolor ''Viola tricolor'' is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. The species is also known as wild pansy, Johnny Jump up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the yellow pansy), heartsea ...

'', ''

Viola biflora ''Viola biflora'' is a species of the genus ''Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordoph ...

'', ''

Viola reichenbachiana ''Viola reichenbachiana'', also known as the early dog-violet, pale wood violet, slender wood violet, hedge violet, or wood dog violet, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Viola'' genus.“Early Dog Violet, Viola Reichenbachiana - Flowers.� ...

'' and '' Viola corsica''. They prefer plants growing under juniper bushes.

References

Butterflies described in 1823 Fabriciana {{Heliconiinae-stub