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Speyeria hesperis Scudder, 1872
Atlantis Fritillary; Greater Fritillaries
Family: Nymphalidae (Brushfoots)
Species account authors: Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard.
Extracted from Butterflies of British Columbia.
Introduction to the Lepidoptera of BC
Introduction to the Butterflies of BC
The Families of Lepidoptera of BC

Photograph

© Norbert Kondla     (Photo ID #8273)

Map

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Distribution of Speyeria hesperis in British Columbia.
(Click on the map to view a larger version.)
Source: Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Illustration

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Illustration Source: : Butterflies of British Columbia by Crispin Guppy and Jon Shepard © Royal BC Museum

Species Information


Adult

In northeastern BC, this species can be confused with the Aphrodite Fritillary (see the discussion of the latter species for distinguishing characters). In the Southern Interior and Kootenays the ground colour of the hindwing is very variable, from light to dark with a hint of red. In the south it can be confused with the Atlantis Fritillary, which is found in much moister habitat along with Clossiana selene and other bog or wetland species. The ground colour of the ventral hindwing of the Atlantis Fritillary is almost black, with no red. An aberrant specimen of the Northwestern Fritillary was erroneously identified as the Great Basin Fritillary, S. egleis (Behr 1862), which, however, may eventually be recorded in British Columbia.

Immature Stages

The mature larva is black. The body is covered with protuberances that bear spines. There are no mid-dorsal narrow yellow stripes.

Subspecies

The Peace populations are the larger subspecies and are assigned to the prairie subspecies, the Northwestern Fritillary, S.h. helena dos Passos & Grey, 1957 (TL: Edmonton, AB). The rest of the BC populations have traditionally been assigned to Bean's Fritillary, S.h. beani (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926) (TL: Banff, AB) (= brico Kondla, Scott, and Spomer, 1998; TL: Castle Cr. Rd., near McBride, BC), but this subspecies is weakly differentiated from S.h. helena. The current International Code of Zoological Nomenclature rules uphold the replacement name helena dos Passos & Grey, 1957 for the homonym Argynnis lais W.H. Edwards, 1884.

Genus Description


The genus Speyeria is named for the German lepidopterist Adolph Speyer (1812-92). The name "greater fritillaries" refers to the large size of the species in this genus, in contrast to the lesser fritillaries in the genera Boloria and Clossiana.

At least some populations of all species of Speyeria in BC have individuals with silver spots on the ventral hindwing. By contrast, only one species of Clossiana has these silver spots. The genus is entirely Nearctic, with 14 recognized species, 9 of which are found in BC. Two other species, S. coronis (Behr, 1864) and S. egleis (Behr, 1862) occur immediately south of the BC border in Washington or Montana, and might eventually be recorded in the province. Dos Passos and Grey (1947) produced the definitive treatment of the genus. In this genus, and all genera in the subfamily except Boloria and Clossiana, the aedeagus is open at the proximal end. Dos Passos and Grey (1947) reduced the number of recognized species from more than 100 species to 13 species, and reduced the other species names to either subspecies or synonyms. The dos Passos and Grey paper, Gunder (1929b), Davenport (1941), and Nabokov (1949) set the standard for our modern species concepts for North American butterflies. P.A. Hammond (pers. comm.) has provided the information on the biology and appearance of the larvae.

Biology


The Northwestern Fritillary flies from late June to early August in the Peace River region. Bean's Fritillary has a protracted flight period, from mid-June to early September. Adults do not generally leave the larval foodplant habitat, unlike the Zerene and Callippe Fritillaries. Shepard has observed females at the top of Plateau Mountain in Alberta, at an elevation of 2,500 m; this was during a year of extreme drought on the Alberta prairie. Eggs are laid at the base of the larval foodplant, Viola sp. They hatch and the first instar larvae overwinter. Larvae begin feeding the following spring, as soon as the foodplant has leafed out.

Habitat


The Northwestern Fritillary is found throughout BC east of the Cascade and Coast mountains. In the extreme north it is found only in very moist meadows associated with hot springs such as Atlin Hot Springs. Further south it is found in mesic meadows; the Atlantis Fritillary is found in moister meadows in association with Clossiana selene.

Distribution

Distribution

The Northwestern Fritillary occurs from YT southeast in isolated populations to northwestern BC and from there east to MB. It ranges south of BC and AB to CA and co.

Status Information

Scientific NameOrigin StatusProvincial StatusBC List
(Red Blue List)		COSEWIC
Speyeria hesperisNativeS5YellowNot Listed
Speyeria hesperis beaniNativeS5YellowNot Listed
Speyeria hesperis helenaNativeS5YellowNot Listed



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