Nymphalidae : Heliconiinae
Dark Green Fritillary
ARGYNNIS (Mesoacidalia) aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Dark Green Fritillary
ARGYNNIS (Mesoacidalia) aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male : 46-61mm : Female : 47-56mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe : Morocco : Iran : Siberia : Central Asia : China : Korea : Japan (Palaearctic : excluding some extreme southern and northern areas).
UK Distribution: Widespread throughout Britain and around the coastal areas of Ireland
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: UK-Second week June-third week August : Scotland-Last week June to first week September. : Sometimes emerges late May in south of range : Univoltine in all regions.
Habitat: Coastal areas : Woodland clearings : Calcareous downland : Tundra : Alpine meadows : Bushy Hills
Ovum: When it comes to a female choosing the site to deposit her ova she is a very fussy individual indeed as I have encountered at Keynance Cove in Cornwall.She prefers cool humid areas and such was the case in Keyhaven when the female dived into the vegetation growing on a slope facing the sea and although I initially could see her she soon vanished out of site,searching out the preferred Violet plant to deposit her eggs.Although I waited for her to reappear I never did see her again.The female upon finding the Violet of her choice curves her abdomen around the leaf,stabbing left and right before depositing a series of dome shaped eggs.
Larva: The eggs hatch in two to three weeks and the tiny caterpillar hibernates among the leaf litter.They re-emerge in the spring and avidly feed on the tender Violet leaves,hiding for long periods before repeating the procedure time and time again.During cool weather the larva will bask in the open perched on vegetation.
Pupa: The curved pupa is formed inside a silk cocoon, made of silk and grass leaves.
Overwinters as: Early stage larva
Observations: The Dark Green Fritillary is our most abundant fritillary which can be found in a wide range of open sunny areas where it can be seen flying rapidly or stopping to nectar on plants such as Thistles or Knapweeds.
Around the coastal regions of Cornwall I have found them in good numbers around their favourite nectar plant which is Red Valarian (Centranthus ruber) (See photos below)
The Dark Green Fritillary is often confused with the much rarer High Brown Fritillary on the rare occasions they are encountered sharing the same bracken covered slopes, although the underside of A.aglaja has a green hue A. adippe has a brown hue with an addition row of ocelli spots just inside the hind wing margin.
On the forewing upper side,the row of inner spots from the wing apex are in line with A. aglaja but with A. adippe the third spot down is indented inwards towards the body.
Although the Dark Green Fritillary is locally abundant in many areas, in Central and Southern England the butterfly has declined in numbers and over the past hundred years it has declined substantially in the North and East of England.
In Cornwall I have seen females egg laying close to cliff edges where they totally vanish beneath the vegetation for some periods of time presumably selecting the correct subspecies of viola on which to deposit their ovum. These selected locations are never far away from the nectar source.
The female shown in photo 2 below is very similar to form: scotia where the females are normally much darker than the females of subspecies: aglaja even though the photograph was taken in Cornwall.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe : Morocco : Iran : Siberia : Central Asia : China : Korea : Japan (Palaearctic : excluding some extreme southern and northern areas).
UK Distribution: Widespread throughout Britain and around the coastal areas of Ireland
UK Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Red List
- Least Concern
- Papilio aglaja (Linnaeus 1758)
- Papilio paphia (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Sweden
Flight Period: UK-Second week June-third week August : Scotland-Last week June to first week September. : Sometimes emerges late May in south of range : Univoltine in all regions.
Habitat: Coastal areas : Woodland clearings : Calcareous downland : Tundra : Alpine meadows : Bushy Hills
Ovum: When it comes to a female choosing the site to deposit her ova she is a very fussy individual indeed as I have encountered at Keynance Cove in Cornwall.She prefers cool humid areas and such was the case in Keyhaven when the female dived into the vegetation growing on a slope facing the sea and although I initially could see her she soon vanished out of site,searching out the preferred Violet plant to deposit her eggs.Although I waited for her to reappear I never did see her again.The female upon finding the Violet of her choice curves her abdomen around the leaf,stabbing left and right before depositing a series of dome shaped eggs.
Larva: The eggs hatch in two to three weeks and the tiny caterpillar hibernates among the leaf litter.They re-emerge in the spring and avidly feed on the tender Violet leaves,hiding for long periods before repeating the procedure time and time again.During cool weather the larva will bask in the open perched on vegetation.
Pupa: The curved pupa is formed inside a silk cocoon, made of silk and grass leaves.
Overwinters as: Early stage larva
Observations: The Dark Green Fritillary is our most abundant fritillary which can be found in a wide range of open sunny areas where it can be seen flying rapidly or stopping to nectar on plants such as Thistles or Knapweeds.
Around the coastal regions of Cornwall I have found them in good numbers around their favourite nectar plant which is Red Valarian (Centranthus ruber) (See photos below)
The Dark Green Fritillary is often confused with the much rarer High Brown Fritillary on the rare occasions they are encountered sharing the same bracken covered slopes, although the underside of A.aglaja has a green hue A. adippe has a brown hue with an addition row of ocelli spots just inside the hind wing margin.
On the forewing upper side,the row of inner spots from the wing apex are in line with A. aglaja but with A. adippe the third spot down is indented inwards towards the body.
Although the Dark Green Fritillary is locally abundant in many areas, in Central and Southern England the butterfly has declined in numbers and over the past hundred years it has declined substantially in the North and East of England.
In Cornwall I have seen females egg laying close to cliff edges where they totally vanish beneath the vegetation for some periods of time presumably selecting the correct subspecies of viola on which to deposit their ovum. These selected locations are never far away from the nectar source.
The female shown in photo 2 below is very similar to form: scotia where the females are normally much darker than the females of subspecies: aglaja even though the photograph was taken in Cornwall.
Subspecies
A. a.aglaja Linnaeus, 1758-Southern Europe : Central Europe-Including British Isles
: Caucasus : Altai : Sayan : West Siberia : South Siberia
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Polygonaceae - Docks - Sorrels - Knotweeds - Smartweeds
- Polygonum bistorta - Commom Bistort
- Polygonum suffultum - No Common Name
- Violaceae - Violet - Pansy Family
- Viola canina - Heath Dog Violet - Dog Violet
- Viola odorata syn.hirta - Sweet Violet - Hairy Violet
- Viola palustris - Dwarf Marsh Violet
- Viola tricolor - Heartease
- Viola verecunda - Fen Violet
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Subgenus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - ARGYNNIS: Original Species Name: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Species Names: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Nymphalidae Heliconiinae Argynnini ARGYNNIS Fabricius, 1807 Mesoacidalia Reuss 1926 Argynnis ( Mesoacidalia ) aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758) - Papilio paphia (Linnaeus, 1758) - PAPILIO aglaja (Linnaeus 1758) = Mesoacidalia aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758) = Speyeria aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758) = Papilio aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758) = Papilio pasilhoe (Linnaeus, 1767) = Papilio charlotta Haworth, 1802 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.481 n.140 - Sweden - A.a. aberrans Lampa, 1885 A.a. albescens Verity, 1904 A.a. albicans Dietrich, 1867 A.a. albomaculata Rebel, 1910 A.a. aurantiaca Reuss, 1916 A.a. aurea Tutt, 1896 A.a. cadmeis Lempke, 1956 A.a. clorinda Sag, 1932 A.a. fasciata Blachier, 1910 A.a. flavescens Tutt, 1896 A.a. fusca Tutt, 1896 A.a. hindenburgi Schuster von Forstner, 1928 A.a. jurasinna Rougemont, 1871 A.a. nana Wheeler, 1903 A.a. nigrans Newnham, 1900 A.a. pallida Tutt, 1896 A.a. pluriradiata Verity, 1950 A.a. robnora Kershaw, 1952 A.a. suffusa Tutt, 1896 A.a. viridiatra Strand, 1912 A.a. wimani Holmgren, 1888 - A.a.aglaja-Southern Europe, Central Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Sayan, West Siberia, South Siberia A.a.borealis Strand, 1901-Europe, Siberia, Russian Far East, Kamchatka A.a.lyauteyi Oberthür, 1920-Morocco Middle Atlas) A.a.excelsior Rothschild, 1933-Morocco Rif Mountains) A.a.ottomana Röber, 1896-Armenia, Turkey,Talys, Kopet Dagh A.a.gigasvitatha Verity, 1935-Tian-Shan, Ghissar, Darvaz, Alai, South Altai A.a.vitatha Moore, 1874-Pamirs A.a.clavimacula Matsumura, 1929-South Ussuri A.a.kenteana Stichel, 1901-Transbaikalia, North Ussuri, Amur A.a.tonnai Matsumura, 1928-Sakhalin A.a.bessa Fruhstorfer, 1907 |