Butterflies of the World - Lifecycle, Ecology, Taxonomy, Conservation, Photography, Butterfly Holidays, Photo Galleries, Book Reviews and more.........
Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
Dark Green Fritillary
Argynnis aglaia LINNAEUS, 1758
Family - NYMPHALINAE
subfamily - HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ARGYNNINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, male, Hampshire, England
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, female, Hampshire, England
 
Introduction
 
The Dark Green Fritillary, formerly known as the Queen of England Fritillary, is distributed across Europe, but is absent from most Mediterranean islands. It is also found throughout temperate Asia as far east as Japan, and occurs in the Atlas mountains of Morocco.
 
The common name of the butterfly refers to the bronze green underside wings, which are spangled with silver spots.
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, male at rest, Hampshire, England
 
 
The upperside wings of males are a much brighter and more unicolorous orange colour than those of females, and possess thin dark sex brands ( androconia ) on veins 1 and 2 of the forewings. In Scotland both sexes tend to be larger, with the basal third of the upperside wings very dark.
 
The male of the similar High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe has the sex brands on veins 2 and 3. The latter species also has slightly concave outer margins to the forewings, and on the underside hindwings has an additional band of small silver sub-marginal spots that are ringed with dark red.
 
On Corsica the Dark Green Fritillary is absent, being replaced by the endemic Corsican Fritillary Argynnis elisa, which has a very similar underside but is smaller and has greatly reduced black markings on the upperside.
 
Habitats
 
In southern England the Dark Green Fritillary is regarded as a butterfly of wild, windswept open grasslands and cliff-tops, but also occurs in low numbers on heathlands, dunes and in forest clearings. In the north of Britain it is found on moorland and in mountain valleys, and also occurs in the company of the High Brown Fritillary in forests and open scrubby grassland on limestone pavements. The butterflies tend to be very localised, breeding in a restricted area on any particular site, usually in sheltered pockets where the soil is deep, and violets grow in large clumps.
 
The European populations are far less restricted by habitat, being found in lowland meadows, limestone gorges, sub-alpine hay meadows and many other habitats.
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, male, Hampshire, England
 
Lifecycle
 
The eggs, which are straw coloured with purplish bands, are laid singly in July or early August, on leaves and stems, in the vicinity of the larval foodplants; e.g. at Dean Hill in July 2007 I observed a female enter a clump of dead grasses and twigs, upon which she laid 6 eggs dotted about on different stems over a period of about 2 minutes. Violet plants Viola hirta were profuse in the area, the nearest plant being about a metre from the oviposition site.
 
At chalk and limestone grassland sites the usual foodplant is hairy violet Viola hirta, but in southern woodlands common dog violet V. riviniana is normally used. On heaths in the New Forest, and on moors in Cumbria and Scotland, V. palustris is favoured.
 
The caterpillars hatch in August, about 16 days after the eggs are laid. After eating their empty egg-shells, they immediately enter hibernation. They over-winter in curled up dead leaves, or in chinks on the bark of bushes. The following year, in March, they awaken to feed on violet leaves, eating large chunks out of the lobes.
 
In southern England they become fully grown in early May. In Scotland I have often found fully grown larvae wandering across country roads, as late as the first week of June.
 
When fully grown they are mottled in black and grey, adorned along the back and sides with rows of branched black spikes, and have a yellow stripe along the back. There is a row of dark reddish spots low down on the sides, and the head is black and glossy.
 
The chrysalis is shiny, with black wing-cases and a dark brown abdomen. It is formed amongst bracken and leaf litter, suspended by the cremaster from a dry stem, and protected amongst a cluster of dead leaves spun together with silk.
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, female, Hampshire, England
 
Adult behaviour
 
At grassland sites in southern England the butterflies strongly favour knapweeds, almost to the exclusion of other nectar sources, but in woodland will feed at bramble, thistles, bird's foot trefoil, red clover, buddleia and hawkbit. They usually spend several seconds nectaring at a particular flower, before flying very rapidly to another plant perhaps 100 metres distant, even if many other flowers are situated more closely.
 
They are extremely alert, powerful on the wing, very agile, and capable of flying in the face of the strong breezes that are prevalent at their open windswept habitats. During rain showers the butterflies settle deep amongst grasses, but still remain very alert, flying up at the least disturbance, zig-zagging rapidly back and forth in search of a new resting place.
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, male, Hampshire, England
 
In overcast or cool conditions the butterflies often remain fairly active, but spend long periods basking in rabbit scrapes, patches of bare earth, or amongst grasses. At Martin Down in Hampshire, I once discovered a male Dark Green Fritillary which had settled to bask on a coiled grass snake !
 
Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaia, male basking amongst tall grasses, Hampshire, England
 
Shortly before dusk on sunny days, the butterflies migrate across their habitat to bask in the last remaining sunlit areas, and can often be seen in the company of Marbled Whites, soaking up the last rays of the sun. As the sun dips below the horizon, they undertake a final flight to locate a roosting site - often this can be high in a tree, but more frequently the butterflies roost hanging from grass heads, or on low bushes of dogwood or buckthorn.
 
 
 
                                                       
Almost every British and European species of butterfly is declining rapidly in numbers, due in most cases to loss or degradation of habitats.
 
You can help to reverse the decline by supporting conservation organisations which purchase and manage habitats as nature reserves, and which lobby government at local, national and international levels, often very successfully, to bring about changes in farming, forestry and urban development policies.
 
Please contact the conservation organisations for advice on how you can help protect British and European butterflies and their habitats. You may be able to offer practical help e.g. by monitoring butterfly populations or helping to manage nature reserves. Donations to these organisations enable them to employ ecologists and biologists. Even if you are unable to provide such help, merely having your name on the membership list can be a powerful tool for conservation organisations wishing to demonstrate the levels of support they have for their policies.

 

 
 
Text and images protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, ( unless stated otherwise ) and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
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