Family:Nymphalidae
Family Description:
Note: This species is comprised of many subspecies.
Range:
This species ranges from the coast of British Columbia south to California,
east to Montana, western Nebraska, and northeastern Colorado. It occurs through
most of Idaho.
Habitat:
It occurs in a variety of habitats, including coastal dunes and meadows,
conifer forests, and sagebrush steppe.
Diet:
Caterpillar:
Caterpillars feed on the leaves of several species of violets (Viola
spp.).
Adult:
Butterflies drink flower nectar.
Ecology:
There is one new generation of caterpillars each year. Eggs hatch in the
fall; the newly emerged caterpillars, having not yet fed, enter a physiological
state called diapause
to overwinter. In the spring the young caterpillars feed on the new leaves of
host plants.
The caterpillar has needle-like extensions on its spines which are hinged and
can be folded upward by the caterpillar. The caterpillar is also equipped with
a gland which releases a musky smell that may be repulsive to ants. Adults generally
fly from the end
of May to September. In California, adult females have been observed entering
diapause during the summer before laying eggs, then emerging in late August
to September to oviposit.
Fritillaries are long-lived for a butterfly, surviving several weeks to months.
Reproduction:
Males patrol
all day in search of receptive females. pheromones
,
chemicals used to locate and attract the opposite sex, are produced by both
male and female Fritillaries. These chemicals are believed to play an important
role in assisting these butterflies to find and recognize other members of their
own species. Eggs are laid singly near host plants. In cases where the violet
plant has already withered and blown away, females are still able to lay their
eggs near to where the host plant will reappear the next spring. This is possible,
it is believed, because females are able to locate violet roots by smell!
Conservation:
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Global Rank: | Varies with subspecies. Speyeria zerene hippolyta, the Oregon Silverspot, of the Pacific Northwest coast is listed as T1, which means it is critically imperiled because of extreme rarity and is imminently vulnerable to extinction. Additionally, California subspecies myrtleae, the Myrtles Silverspot, and subspecies behrensii, Behrens Silverspot, are both listed as Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, North Dakota, USA: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm (Version 05Nov98).
Opler, P. A. and A. B.Wright. 1999. A Field Guide to the Western Butterflies. Second Edition. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, New York, USA, 540 pp.
Pyle, R. M. 1981. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Butterflies. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, New York, USA, 924 pp.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 583 pp.
Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western U.S.A. Butterflies (Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico). Published by authors, Denver, Colorado, USA, 275 pp.