Boloria dia | |
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Ventral view | |
Dorsal view | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Boloria |
Species: | B. dia |
Binomial name | |
Boloria dia | |
Synonyms | |
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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. [1] However, B. dia is very rare in England and the few specimens known from there are thought to be from possibly accidental introductions. [2]
The adult is a small fritillary with typically chequered orange-brown upperside and a submarginal row of triangles and dots. The forewing is 16–17 mm long. The underside of the hindwing has a distinctive purplish band.
A. dia L. (68f) is the smallest Argynnis. Above usually more extended black than the other species; the basal area of the hindwing as a rule quite dark, the marginal area with a row of heavy black dots. The hindwing beneath variegated with purple and bearing silvery spots at the margin, in the median band and at the base. Throughout Central, North and East Europe, also in Anterior Asia eastwards to Mongolia. Specimens with a broad confluent median band are ab. vittata Spul. (= mediofasciata Schultz). In ab. hudaki Aign.,especially plentiful among the second brood, only the narrow median band of the hindwing is reddish yellow, the margin as well as the base being broadly black. — alpina Elw. [ now subspecies B. d. alpina] (Elwes, 1899] (68f) is the form from eastern Central Asia, described from the Altai; the ground-colour is duller, more leather-colour than reddish yellow. — Larva paler or darker grey, with a pale-edged blackish dorsal l ine and a reddish brown side-line; subdorsally there are small light spots in a blackish patch; the spines pale yellow with dark yellow base; in June and from September till April on Violaceae and Rubus, said to feed also on Prunella vulgaris. Pupa brown; on the back with rows of small pointed tubercles. The butterfly in April and May and again from August onward in open places and clearings of woods, flying low and frequently visiting flowers. One finds the sleeping butterfly commonly hanging on flowering heather at night, the underside being admirably adapted to its small flowers. The species does not appear to be rare wherever it occurs, nor ever to be found in large numbers. [3]
B. dia differs from the pearl-bordered fritillary in having a sharp angle to its hindwing (readily seen from underside when perched with wings closed). The similar Titania's fritillary has a less sharply-angled hindwing and only occurs at high altitude. [4]
In Europe the larvae feed on Viola species ( Viola odorata , Viola hirta , Viola canina , Viola reichenbachiana , Viola tricolor ), and outside Europe on Prunella vulgaris and Rubus idaeus .
Boloria dia is found in Europe, over the Caucasus east across the Palearctic to Mongolia. It is widespread and common across southern France. [4] In Europe it occurs from northern Spain, Italy and Greece to Poland, the Balkans and Turkey. [5] [6] It is not found in Britain.
Named in the Classical tradition.Dia ( Greek mythology ) is the wife of Ixion, king of the Lapiths .
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 green hairstreak is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.
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 dark green fritillary is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.
Melitaea diamina, the false heath fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Boloria chariclea, the Arctic fritillary or purplish fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the northern parts of the Palearctic and Nearctic realms.
Boloria eunomia, the bog fritillary or ocellate bog fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Boloria titania, the Titania's fritillary or purple bog fritillary, is a butterfly of the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae.
Melitaea didyma, the spotted fritillary or red-band fritillary, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Melitaea phoebe, the knapweed fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, except the northernmost locations. It used to include Melitaea telona, recently revalidated as a distinct cryptic species.
Boloria thore, the Thor's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It occurs in damp places in the Alps, Fennoscandia, the south of European Russia, the Urals and east across the Palearctic to Siberia and Japan.
Boloria frigga, the Frigga fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae with a circumboreal distribution. It occurs in bogs and tundra in Northern Europe to the north of 60° N, very locally in more southern locations, as well as in the Urals, Siberia, Northern Mongolia, the Russian Far East, western parts of the United States and Canada.
Boloria freija, the Freija fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae with a circumboreal distribution. It occurs in bogs and tundra. Its range includes Northern Europe to the north of 60° N, occasionally more southern locations, the Urals, Siberia, the Russian Far East, mountains of northern Mongolia and Hokkaido, as well as North America, extending in the Rocky Mountains to 35° N.
Boloria polaris, the Polaris fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in northernmost Scandinavia, North America and in Greenland. It is also found in northeastern Russia and across the Palearctic to Chukotka. It is one of only six butterfly species found on Canada's Ellesmere Island.
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.
Melitaea varia, the Grisons fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Alps at heights of 1,500–2,600 m (4,900–8,500 ft), especially in the Swiss cantons Valais, Engadin and Graubünden. It is also found in the Ortler region in South Tyrol, Alpes-Maritimes and Drôme in France, high areas of Tirol in Austria and high areas in the Apennine Mountains such as Abruzzo.
Muschampia proto, the sage skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Morocco, Algeria, the Iberian Peninsula and southern France.
The twin-spot fritillary is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Boloria selenis is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found from the Volga basin to Japan.