The dark green fritillary (''Speyeria aglaja'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

. The insect has a wide range in the

Palearctic realm 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-Sib ...

- Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.

Description in Seitz

The large fritillary is fiery reddish yellow above, the basal area of the male being always duller. The markings are constant: a black margin, a row of deep black but thin marginal arcs, a very straight, central row of dots, of which only the last one of the forewing is shifted distad; between this row of dots and the base there are six thin black transverse bands extending from the subcostal vein into the wing. The underside of the hindwing is characteristic; it bears numerous silver-spots on a partly verdigris partly leather-yellow ground, but never a row of ocelli in the marginal area, as is the case in the forms of the Niobe fritillary (''Fabriciana niobe'') and

high brown fritillary ''Fabriciana adippe'', the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is li ...

(''F. adippe''). 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)

Subspecies

*''S. a. aglaja'' Southern Europe, Central Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Sayan, West Siberia, South Siberia *''S. a. borealis'' (

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, 1901) Europe, Siberia,

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 ...

, Kamchatka *''S. a. lyauteyi'' ( Oberthür, 1920) Morocco (Middle Atlas) *''S. a. excelsior'' (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "with the red sign", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by sign ...

, 1933) Morocco (Rif Mountains) *''S. a. ottomana'' ( Röber, 1896) Armenia, Talys, Kopet Dagh *''S. a. gigasvitatha'' (

Verity Verity (''alias'' Veretie, Verety, Verita, Veritie, etc.) is a female first name and a surname. As a first name it derives from the Latin feminine noun ''veritas'', meaning "truth". It is thus an equivalent of Alethea, a female first name first use ...

, 1935) Tian-Shan, Ghissar, Darvaz, Alai, South Altai *''S. a. vitatha'' ( Moore, 1874) Pamirs *''S. a. clavimacula'' ( Matsumura, 1929) South Ussuri *''S. a. kenteana'' ( Stichel, 1901) Transbaikalia, North Ussuri, Amur *''S. a. tonnai'' ( Matsumura, 1928) Sakhalin *''S. a. bessa'' ( Fruhstorfer, 1907) ? Speyeria aglaja MHNT CUT 2013 3 25 Auzat Dorsal.jpg, Speyeria aglaja MHNT CUT 2013 3 25 Auzat Ventral.jpg, Underside Argynnis aglaja underside.jpg, Underside Dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) male.jpg, Male Dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) female underside M.jpg, Female underside Dark green fritillaries (Argynnis aglaja) male and female.jpg, Male and female Stamp of Kyrgyzstan 219.jpg, Kyrgyzstan postage stamp The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths BHL41107813.jpg, Figs.2,2a,2b, 2c, 2d, 2e larva after last moult 2f pupa

United Kingdom

In the U.K. the habitat is often pastures and flowery banks, and nearby areas where the preferred food plants for the larvae, ''

Viola canina ''Viola canina'' (heath dog-violet or heath violet) is a species of the genus ''Viola'', native to Europe, where it is found in heaths, fens, and moist woodlands, especially on acidic soils. It is a herbaceous perennial plant A perennial ...

'' and ''

Viola riviniana ''Viola riviniana'', the common dog-violet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae, native to Eurasia and Africa. It is also called wood violet and dog violet. It inhabits woodland edges, grassland and shady hedge banks. It is f ...

'', grow. The dark green fritillary uses violets within bracken mosaics frequently consisting of one-third

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells (eggs ...

and two-thirds

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

, often on the edges of suitable high brown fritillary habitat. Their distribution can be found on the NBN website.

References

*Emmet, A.M., J. Heath ''et al.'' (Ed.), 1990. The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' Vol. 7 Part 1 (Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae). Harley Books, Colchester, UK. 370p. *Tomlinson, D. and R. Still, 2002. ''Britain's Butterflies''. WildGuides, Old Basing, UK. 192p.
Bracken for Butterflies
Leaflet by Butterfly Conservation *Crory, Andrew. 2016. Fritillary Butterflies. ''The Irish Hare''. Ulster Wildlife Membership Magazine. Issue 113 p. 4 {{Taxonbar, from=Q67687694, from2=Q851495 Speyeria Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus