''Speyeria egleis'', commonly known as the Great Basin fritillary or egleis fritillary, is a butterfly 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 North America, where it has been recorded from

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

southwest through

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and south to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the 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 western edge of t ...

. The habitat consists of mountain meadows, forest openings and exposed rocky ridges. The wingspan is 45-60 mm. The wings are bright to dull orange brown with dark markings. Adults are on wing from late June to August. The larvae feed on the leaves of ''

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

'' species, including '' V. adunca'', '' V. nuttallii'', '' V. purpurea'', and '' V. walteri''.Butterflies and Moths of North America
/ref>

Subspecies

*''S. e. egleis'' *''S. e. albrighti'' (Gunder, 1932) (Montana) *''S. e. linda'' (dos Passos & Grey, 1942) (Idaho) *''S. e. macdunnoughi'' (Gunder, 1932) (Montana) *''S. e. mattooni'' J. Emmel & T. Emmel, 1998 (California) *''S. e. moecki'' Hammond & Dornfeld, 1983 (Oregon) *''S. e. oweni'' (Edwards, 1892) (California) *''S. e. reidi'' Austin, 1998 (Nevada) *''S. e. secreta'' dos Passos & Grey, 1945 (Colorado) *''S. e. tehachapina'' (Comstock, 1920) (California) *''S. e. toiyabe'' Howe, 1975 (Nevada) *''S. e. utahensis'' (Skinner, 1919) (Utah) *''S. e. yolaboli'' J. Emmel & T. Emmel, 1998 (California) ''S. e. atossa'' and ''S. e. clemencei'' are now treated as subspecies of '' Speyeria adiaste''.

References

Speyeria Butterflies of North America Fauna of the Northwestern United States Butterflies described in 1862 {{Heliconiinae-stub