''Boloria freija'', the Freija fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae with a

circumboreal The Circumboreal Region in phytogeography is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan. It is the largest floristic region in t ...

distribution. It occurs in

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

s and tundra. Its range includes

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

to the north of 60° N, occasionally more southern locations, the Urals, Siberia, the Russian Far East, mountains of northern Mongolia and Hokkaido, as well as North America, extending in the Rocky Mountains 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'', '' Dryas'' sp., '' Vaccinium uliginosum'', '' Arctostaphylos alpina'', '' A. uva-ursi'', '' Empetrum nigrum'', '' Rhododendron aureum'', '' 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