The great spangled fritillary (''Speyeria cybele'') is a North American

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 ...

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 ...

Description

Spinus-great-spangled-fritillary-2015-07-n048074-w

Its wingspan ranges from . It is characterized by its orange color above with five black dashes near forewing base and several irregular black dashes at the base of the hindwing. In addition, two rows of black crescents run along the edges of the wings. Below, the forewing is yellowish orange with black marks similar to the upperside, with a few silver spots on the tip of the wing. The hindwing is reddish brown with silver spots on the base and middle of the wing. A broad yellow band and silver triangles are the most notable qualities on the wing, next to the brown margin. Females tend to be darker than males and individuals from the western reaches of this species range tend to be brighter orange. Similar species include the Aphrodite fritillary (''

Speyeria aphrodite The Aphrodite fritillary (''Speyeria aphrodite'') is a fritillary butterfly, from North America. This orange coloured fritillary has rows of dark dots or chevrons at the wing edges and black or brown lines more proximally. The ventral sides of t ...

''), the Atlantis fritillary (''

Speyeria atlantis ''Speyeria atlantis'', the Atlantis fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae of North America. It is from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador to northern British Columbia, across the northern United States south as far ...

'') and the northwestern fritillary (''

Speyeria hesperis ''Speyeria hesperis'', the northwestern fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the northwestern United States and western Canada, as far east as Manitoba and the Dakotas.Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...

and

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas (mythology), Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus'' and ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' ...

fritillaries by a wide light submarginal band on the hindwing and instead of black spots, black dashes form on the margins of the forewing.

Subspecies

Great Spangled Fritillary, Gatineau Park

Listed alphabetically: *''S. c. carpenterii'' (Edwards, 1876) *''S. c. charlottii'' (Barnes, 1897) *''S. c. cybele'' (Fabricius, 1775) *''S. c. krautwurmi'' (Holland, 1931) – Krautwurm's fritillary *''S. c. leto'' (Behr, 1862) *''S. c. letona'' dos Passos & Grey, 1945 *''S. c. novascotiae'' (McDunnough, 1935) *''S. c. pseudocarpenteri'' (F. & R. Chermock, 1940) *''S. c. pugetensis'' Chermock & Frechin, 1947

Range

The great spangled fritillary covers a wide range of North America stretching from southern Canada to northern California on the west to North Carolina on the east. Prime habitat for this species includes moist meadows and woodland edges.

Larval host

Various species of native

violets Violet identifies various plant taxa, particularly species in the genus ''Viola'', within which the common violet is the best known member in Eurasia and the common blue violet and common purple violet are the best known members in North America ...

have reported to serve as a larval host plant for the great spangled fritillary, including the native round-leaf violet (''

Viola rotundifolia ''Viola rotundifolia'', common name roundleaf yellow violet, is a plant species of the genus ''Viola''. It is found in mesic habitat areas of the eastern United States and Canada; from Tennessee and Kentucky south to Georgia Georgia most common ...

''), the arrow-leaf violet (''

Viola fimbriatula ; 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 ...

'') and the common blue violet (''

Viola sororia ''Viola sororia'', known commonly as the common blue violet, is a short-stemmed herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names, including common meadow violet, purple violet, woolly bl ...

'').

References

External links

Great Spangled Fritillary
Wisconsin Butterflies
Speyeria cybele
North American Butterflies and Moths * The National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies, by Robert Micheal Pyle {{Taxonbar, from=Q683961 Speyeria Butterflies of North America Butterflies described in 1775