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Silver-washed fritillaries mating

 

 

For a couple of weeks more we can still meet the silver-washed fritillaries on forest roads and felling lines, in meadows and clearings. The large butterflies (wing span 55-65 mm) have a characteristic fast, gliding flight; who has once identified a silver-washed fritillary will know them from far off. The lighter-coloured undersides of the wings are conspicuous – greenish yellow, with silvery cross bands. The females are a little larger than the males: more about them below.

 

There are other fritillaries quite similar to the males even regarding size: the Pallas’s fritillary (Argynnis laodice), dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja), the Heliconiini group, but they will not have the silver cross bands on the underside of the hind wings. The females cannot be mistaken for any other species.

 

 Silver-washed fritillary

 

The forewings of the silver-washed fritillaries are triangular, the hind wings large and rounded. Basic colour orange, patterned with contrasting dark dots and veins. The wing fringes of the males are orange, those of the females whitish.

 

Silver-washed fritillary

 

Some confusion may be caused by the fact that the females occur in two colour modifications: either similar to the males (see upper photo) or with the fairly widely spread greenish-grey colour (Argynnis paphia f. valesina). At identification of fritillaries it helps to observe the flight view and the wing shape.

 

The females lay their eggs in tree bark crevices; the hatched caterpillars head for the ground where they spend the winter.

 

The caterpillars feed on violets (Viola) and in early July next year we can again see the fritillary imagos flying about.