| Meadow fritillary | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Boloria |
| Species: | B. bellona |
| Binomial name | |
| Boloria bellona (Fabricius, 1775) | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Boloria bellona, the meadow fritillary, is a North American butterfly in the brushfoot family, Nymphalidae. The common name, meadow fritillary, is also used for a European butterfly species, Melitaea parthenoides .
The upperside of the wings is yellow orange with dark spots, lines, and zigzagged bands. The forewing is squared off just below the apex. A dark border on the hindwing margin is lacking on most individuals. It has long palps. The underside of the wings is mottled with orange and purplish-brown. There is a yellowish band across the center of the hindwing. It lacks the silver spots most lesser fritillaries have. The forewing is smudged with orange and brown near the apex. The wingspan of the meadow fritillary is 3.5 - 5.1 cm (1+3⁄8 - 2 inches).
Similar species in the meadow fritillary's range include the silver-bordered fritillary ( Boloria selene ), the bog fritillary ( Boloria eunomia ) and the purplish fritillary ( Boloria chariclea ).
The silver-bordered fritillary has rounder wings than the meadow fritillary, a dark hindwing margin border and silver spots on the underside of the hindwing.
The bog fritillary is a bit smaller than the meadow fritillary, its wing bases are hairy and on the underside of the hindwing are a series of bands and patches that are rust red, yellow, and white.
The purplish fritillary is also a bit smaller than the meadow fritillary and the underside of the hindwings is a deep, rusty red.
The meadow fritillary is frequently encountered in wet, open places, including pastures, fields and streamsides.
The female is the active flight partner. Females deposit greenish-yellow eggs near the host plant on twigs or leaves. Mature larvae are gray and black with small, light-colored spines. The chrysalis is yellow-brown. The meadow fritillary overwinters as a larva. It has one or two broods per year.
Host plants used by the meadow fritillary:
The meadow brown is a butterfly found in the Palearctic realm. Its range includes Europe south of 62°N, Russia eastwards to the Urals, Asia Minor, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and the Canary Islands. The larvae feed on grasses.
The silver-washed fritillary is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palearctic realm – Algeria, Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan.
The pearl-bordered fritillary is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Europe and through Russia across the Palearctic to the north of Kazakhstan.
The Queen of Spain fritillary is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
The great spangled fritillary is a North American butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
The Zabulon skipper is a North American butterfly first described by the French naturalists Jean Baptiste Boisduval and John Eatton Le Conte from the state of Georgia, United States.
The Indian fritillary is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia.
Boloria is a brush-footed butterfly (Nymphalidae) genus. Clossiana is usually included with it nowadays, though some authors still consider it distinct and it seems to warrant recognition as a subgenus at least.
Boloria dia, the Weaver's fritillary or violet fritillary, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The name Weaver's fritillary is in honor of Richard Weaver, an English insect collector who claimed to have obtained the specimen within ten miles of Birmingham around 1820. However, B. dia is very rare in England and the few specimens known from there are thought to be from possibly accidental introductions.
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Euptoieta claudia, the variegated fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Even though the variegated fritillary has some very different characteristics from the Speyeria fritillaries, it is still closely related to them. Some of the differences are: variegated fritillaries have two or three broods per year vs. one per year in Speyeria; they are nomadic vs. sedentary; and they use a wide range of host plants vs. just violets. And because of their use of passionflowers as a host plant, variegated fritillaries also have taxonomic links to the heliconians. Their flight is low and swift, but even when resting or nectaring, this species is extremely difficult to approach, and, because of this, its genus name was taken from the Greek word euptoietos meaning "easily scared".
Euptoieta hegesia, the Mexican fritillary, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Polites themistocles, the tawny-edged skipper, is a North American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae.
Boloria napaea, the Napaea fritillary or mountain fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Boloria pales, the shepherd's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees through the Alps and Apennine Mountains east to the Balkan, Carpathian Mountains, the Caucasus and central Asia up to western China.
Chlorostrymon simaethis, the silver-banded hairstreak, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak.
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The twin-spot fritillary is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
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