| Great Spangled Fritillary | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Speyeria |
| Species: | S. cybele |
| Binomial name | |
| Speyeria cybele (Fabricius, 1775) |
|
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The Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It reaches 2 1/8 to 3" in wingspan. It is characterized by its orange color above with five black dashes near fore wing base and several iregualer black dashes at the base of the hind wing. In addition, two rows of black crescents run along the edges of the wings. Below, the fore wing is yellowish-orange with black marks similar to the upperside, with a few silver spots on the tip of the wing. The hind wing is reddish-brown with silver spots on the base and middle of the wing. A broad yellow band and silver triangles are the most notable qualities on the wing, next to the brown margin. Females tend to be darker than males and individuals from the western reaches of this species range tend to be brighter orange.Similar species include the Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite), the Atlantis Fritillary (Speyeria atlantis) and the Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis).It is distinguished from the Aphrodite and Atlantis Fritillaries by a wide light submarginal band on the hindwing and instead of black spots, black dashes form on the margins of the fore wing.
This species covers a wide range over North America Stretching from Southern British Columbia, eastward to Quebec and the Maritime Provinces down south west of the Rocky Mountains to California, and down east of the Appalachian Mountains from Maine to Northern Georgia. Curiously, it does not occur in the Midwest, or in the Great Plains. Prime habitat for this species includes moist meadows and deciduous woods in the east. In the west, it prefers moist pine and oak woods and is common around woodland edges.
This species starts as an egg laid in the fall months, the caterpillar hatches from a brown egg and overwinters. It begins eating in March, generally only found on the wild violet, (Viola rotundiflora; and grows and changes in color from brown to black and produces prickly, black spines.
The Great spangled Fritilary flies quickly but pause to take nectar from a variety of blossoms including Black-Eyed Susan, Thistles, and others. Females mate in June or July and then proceed to hide, on bark, or under foliage till late August to September, to lay their eggs on the leaves of the viola. Males, which emerged earlier, in May to June, live only to mate and by this time are almost nonexistent. This species is more common in the East, int the West it is scarce, and this Western population is occasionally give species status, the Leto Fritillary, (S. leto). (Fullard & Napoleone, 2001).
In 1985 Scottish music band Cocteau Twins released a song called "Great Spangled Fritillary"; it was the first of four tracks (each bearing Lepidoptera-influenced names) on their EP Echoes in a Shallow Bay.