(Linnaeus, 1758)
Silver-washed Fritillary
Description:
The Silver-washed Fritillary is a large, conspicuous butterfly that is often present in large numbers. Needing a lot of nectar, they are often found on thistles at the edge of woodland. They also occur on rough vegetation in woodland clearings. The males have black streaks of scent-scales on their forewings.
Unlike other butterflies, the eggs are not laid on the food plant. Instead, the female deposits them singly on the branches and trunks of trees growing at woodland edges. As soon as they emerge from the egg in the late summer, the tiny caterpillar looks for somewhere to hibernate.
In the spring it starts looking for violets (Viola spp.), on which it feeds at night, hiding under the leaves of the food plant during the day. It pupates on a stalk of a violet plant, or in a crevice in the bark of a tree.
The Silver-washed Fritillary has one generation a year. The females come in two colour variations, the more usual, orange form and the heavily dusted, dark form valezina. In some populations this form is quite common, but in others very rare.
Habitat:
Mixed woodland
Coniferous woodland
Deciduous forests
Similar species:
Argynnis pandora