Small pearl-bordered fritillary

Small pearl-bordered fritillary
in Wyre Forest, Worcestershire
Conservation status
Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Boloria
Species:	B. selene
Binomial name
Boloria selene (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)

The small pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene), called the silver-bordered fritillary in North America,^[1] is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, Illinois, is conducting a DNA research experiment on Boloria selene.

Appearance

It is similar to pearl-bordered fritillary but has black chevrons on the edge of its wings, a large central black dot on each one and white pearls (compared to two of the other species) on the underside.

• 
  Dorsal side
• 
  Ventral side

Distribution

The species is widespread across central and northern Europe and through Asia to Korea and also occurs in North America.^[2] Its range appears stable through much of Europe but declines have been reported in at least nine countries.

Boloria selene is widespread across upland and western Britain, but is not found in central, eastern England or Ireland. Its numbers are declining in England. It occurs in damp, grassy habitats, woodland clearings and moorland, but has also been found in dune slacks and coastal cliffs.

Food plants and eggs

In the UK and Canada^[3] this species uses several species of violet as its food plant. In drier areas, dog violets are used whilst in wetter areas the food plant is bog violet (Viola palustris) or marsh violet growing amongst purple moor-grass or tufted hair-grass. They prefer the damper areas more often. They also occur amongst bracken, where this is shading the appropriate violet species.

Typical nectar food plants for adult

• Bramble
• Thistle
• Bugle (Ajuga reptans)

• 
  Dorsal view
• 
  Ventral view
• 
  Mating
• 
  Illustration from John Curtis's British Entomology, Volume 5
• 
  B. s. atrocostalis, mating, Ontario, Canada

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boloria selene.

• Butterfly Conservation website description
• Butterfly Conservation management Fact Sheet
• Bracken for butterflies fact-sheet by Butterfly Conservation
• NBN Gateway distribution profile can be accessed through searchnbn.net