| Niobe fritillary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Upperside | |
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| Female, underside | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Fabriciana |
| Species: | F. niobe |
| Binomial name | |
| Fabriciana niobe | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Niobe fritillary (Fabriciana niobe) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
The Latin species name niobe refers to Niobe, daughter of Tantalus in Greek mythology. [1]
Subspecies include: [2]
Fabriciana niobe is common throughout Europe, but absent from the United Kingdom and Northern Europe, and is also found in Siberia, Russia, Iran, China, and Korea [2] These butterflies can be found in open grassy places, slopes, woodland and clearings at altitudes between sea level and 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). [3] [4] [5]
Fabriciana niobe has a wingspan of 46–60 millimetres (1.8–2.4 in). [3] The females are rather bigger and have more marked wings. [1] These medium-sized butterflies have a bright brown-orange background with black dots and crossbands, and a line of submarginal triangular patches. [6] The forewings margin shows a rounded shape. The underside of the hindwings usually has small whitish-silvery spots, a black pupilled yellow spot and black lined submarginal lunules and veins in the basal area. [5] Caterpillars have a dark basic colour with small, white spots and white thorns.
This species is rather similar to the dark-green fritillary ( Speyeria aglaja ) and high brown fritillary ( Fabriciana adippe ), [7] but it is quite smaller, the silver centred brown spots are smaller and the postdiscal silver markings are not continuous. [5]
Seitz - A. niobe L. (69c). Above very similar to aglaja, at once recognized by the much more variegated under-side. The hindwing beneath is without the even verdigris shading in the basal half, the latter bearing distinct leathery-yellow patches, which are often centred, edged or shaded with brownish green. The nymotypical form has abundant silver-spots beneath, more than aglaja, as the distal band has no silver in aglaja, while it bears silvery centres in niobe. [8]
This species is univoltine. [5] It overwinters at the caterpillar stage in the egg shell. Adults fly from May to late August. [3] The eggs are laid on the vegetation, near the host plants. The larvae hatch in March and mature in June. Caterpillars feed on Viola tricolor , Viola canina , Viola riviniana , Viola odorata , Viola hirta , Viola palustris and Plantago lanceolata . [1] [2]
The silver-washed fritillary is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palearctic realm – Algeria, Europe, temperate Asia, and Japan.
The purple hairstreak is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae distributed throughout much of Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, Caucasia, and Transcaucasia. The larva feeds on Quercus robur, Quercus petraea, Quercus cerris and Quercus ilex.
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.
Fabriciana adippe, the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is listed as a vulnerable species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Like other fritillaries it is dependent on warm climates with violet rich flora.
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.
The Queen of Spain fritillary is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
The poplar admiral is a butterfly in the subfamily Limenitinae of the family Nymphalidae.
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 butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.
Pseudophilotes baton, the baton blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in central and southern Europe and then east across the Palearctic to the Russian Far East.
Calliteara pudibunda, the pale tussock, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The Dutch common name for the moth (Meriansborstel) comes from the butterfly and insect painter Maria Sibylla Merian. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Asia and Europe.
Argynnis laodice, Pallas' fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It occurs in damp forested places in southern Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, northwestern Kazakhstan, and across the Palearctic to Siberia, Amur, Korea and Japan.
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.
Cucullia argentea, the green silver-spangled shark, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found in southern and central Europe through Siberia, Mongolia and Manchuria up to Korea and Japan.
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. It is one of only six butterfly species found on Canada's Ellesmere Island.
Melitaea arduinna, or Freyer's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from south-eastern Europe across Asia Minor to central Asia and the Altai. The habitat consists of steppe-clad slopes.
Fabriciana elisa, the Corsican fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Corsica and Sardinia. This is a mountain butterfly, found on grassy vegetation in clearings in deciduous woods.
Boeberia is a genus of satyrine butterflies containing a single species Boeberia parmenio found in the Altai mountains South Siberia, Mongolia, Yakutia, Amur and North east China.
Neolysandra coelestina is a butterfly found in the Palearctic that belongs to the blues family.
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