Family: Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies view all from this family

Description 2 1/8-3" (54-76 mm). Above, orange with 5 black dashes near FW base; several black dashes near HW base, irregular black band in middle of wing followed by row of black dots, plus 2 rows of black crescents, the outer in a line along margin. Below, FW yellowish-orange with black marks similar to upperside and a few silver spots near tip; HW reddish-brown with silver spots on base and middle of wing, and broad yellow band and silver triangles next to brown margin. Female darker above, especially at base. Western male brighter orange with more pointed FW; female straw-colored outwardly, black at base.

Similar Species Other fritillaries have 1 or more black spots on FW base below wiggly black lines.

Life Cycle Tiny caterpillar overwinters after hatching from pale brown egg. Caterpillar black with branching spines that are orange at base; feeds on violets (Viola rotundifolia). Chrysalis mottled dark brown.

Flight Flight:1 brood; June to mid-September.

Habitat Moist meadows and deciduous woods in East; also moist pine and oak woods, conifer forest openings, and west meadows in West.

Range S. British Columbia, s. Quebec and Maritimes south to central California, New Mexico, and n. Georgia.

Discussion The Great Spangled Fritillary flies swiftly but pauses to take nectar from black-eyed Susans, thistles, and other flowers. Females of this and most other fritillaries mate in June or July, but many of them disappear, perhaps hiding under leaves or bark, to reappear in late August and September, when they lay their eggs near violets. By this time, the shorter-lived males, which have emerged from Chrysalises a few days or weeks earlier than females, are scarce. Eastern populations are large, rounded, tawny, and common. In the West, this species occurs more rarely; some lepidopterists make it a separate species, the Leto Fritillary (S. leto).