''Speyeria callippe'', the callippe fritillary, is a North American

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 ...

of butterflies in the brush-footed 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 ...

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:"''Speyeria'' Scudder, 1872"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' *''S. c. calgariana'' (McDunnough, 1924) *'' S. c. callippe'' Boisduval, 1852 *'' S. c. comstocki'' (Gunder, 1925) – Comstock's silverspot *''S. c. elaine'' dos Passos & Grey, 1945 *''S. c. gallatini'' (McDunnough, 1929) *''S. c. harmonia'' dos Passos & Grey, 1945 *''S. c. juba'' (Boisduval, 1869) *''S. c. laura'' (Edwards, 1879) *''S. c. laurina'' (Wright, 1905) *''S. c. liliana'' (H. Edwards, 1877) *''S. c. nevadensis'' (Edwards, 1870) *''S. c. macaria'' (Edwards, 1877) *''S. c. meadii'' (Edwards, 1872) *''S. c. rupestris'' (Behr, 1863) *''S. c. semivirida'' (McDunnough, 1924) *''S. c. sierra'' dos Passos & Grey, 1945

Distribution and habitat

This species can be found in North America, from Central

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

east to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

and

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, south to southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. These butterflies usually inhabit sagebrush, dry woodland, edge of forests, chaparral and grassy hillsides.

Description

''Speyeria callippe'' can reach a

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 ...

of . In these large and widespread butterflies the color of the upperside of the wings varies from tawny to bright red-brown with black evenly-spaced zigzag stripes. The entire outer contour is black-brown, divided by a row of pale lunules. The underside of the forewings is red fawn, with the same design as above, and a series of marginal silver lunules. The underside of the hindwings is brown, with about twenty-two large silvered spots and triangular silver submarginal spots with narrow brown edges.Butterflies and Moths of North America
/ref> In the last stage the larvae are greyish, with black and grey patches and black-orange spines. Thomas J. Allen, Jim P. Brock, James P. Brock, Jeffrey Glassber
Caterpillars in the Field and Garden: A Field Guide to the Butterfly of North America
/ref>

Biology

''Speyeria callippe'' is a

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

species. Adults fly from May to August, usually patrolling for females, which emerge before males. Eggs are laid in litter near the host plants. Unfed first-stage caterpillars overwinter until spring, when they feed on leaves of ''

Viola pedunculata ''Viola pedunculata'', the California golden violet, Johnny jump up, or yellow pansy, is a perennial yellow wildflower of the coast and coastal ranges in California and northwestern Baja California. The common name "Johnny jump up" is usually ...

'', '' Viola nuttallii'', ''

Viola beckwithii ''Viola beckwithii'', known commonly as the Great Basin violet, Beckwith's violet, and sagebrush pansy, is a species of violet native to the western United States. It is an early-flowering plant of sagebrush (''Artemisia tridentata'') habitats i ...

'', ''

Viola douglasii ''Viola douglasii'' is a species of violet known by the common name Douglas' violet, or Douglas' golden violet. It is native to western North America from Oregon through California and into Baja California, where it grows in seasonally moist ha ...

'' and ''

Viola purpurea ''Viola purpurea'' is a species of violet with yellow flowers and the common name goosefoot violet. Habitat and Range ''Viola purpurea'' grows in foothills and mountains across much the western United States, including the Cascade Mountains, t ...

''.

Gallery

File:Callippe Fritillary (14427744069).jpg, ''Speyeria callippe''. Upperside File:Callippe Fritillary (14427741969).jpg, Underside File:Callippe Fritillary (14427746549).jpg, Sideview File: Nymphalidae - Speyeria callippe.webm, ''S. callippe'' in

Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

. Video clip

References

External links

Wild Utah

Moth Photographers Group

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7576455 Speyeria Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1852 Taxa named by Jean Baptiste Boisduval Articles containing video clips