Aphrodite fritillary

The Aphrodite fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite) is a fritillary butterfly, from North America.

Aphrodite fritillary
S. a. alcestis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Speyeria
Species:
S. aphrodite
Binomial name
Speyeria aphrodite
(Fabricius, 1787)

This orange coloured fritillary has rows of dark dots or chevrons at the wing edges and black or brown lines more proximally.[1] The ventral sides of the wings are also orange with several rows of white dots.[2] Its wingspan is between 51 and 73 mm.[3] The results suggest that a major, climate-induced shift of North American butterflies, characterized by northward expansions of warm-adapted and retreat of cold-adapted species, is underway.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:[4]

  • S. a. alcestis (Edwards, 1876)
  • S. a. byblis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926)
  • S. a. columbia (H. Edwards, 1877)
  • S. a. ethene (Hemming, 1933)
  • S. a. manitoba (F. & R. Chermock, 1940)
  • S. a. whitehousei (Gunder, 1932)
  • S. a. winni (Gunder, 1932)

Similar species
  • Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis)
  • Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
  • Northwestern fritillary (Speyeria hesperis)

References
  1. Aphrodite Fritillary, Wisconsin Butterflies
  2. Brock JP and Kaufman K. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, New York:Houghton Mifflin Co., 2003.
  3. Aphrodite Fritillary, Butterflies of Canada
  4. "Speyeria Scudder, 1872" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

Further reading
  • Breed, Greg A.; Stichter, Sharon; Crone, Elizabeth E. (February 2013). "Climate-driven changes in northeastern US butterfly communities". Nature Climate Change. 3 (2): 142–145. Bibcode:2013NatCC...3..142B. doi:10.1038/nclimate1663.
  • Parmesan, Camille (December 2006). "Ecological and Evolutionary Responses to Recent Climate Change". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 37 (1): 637–669. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.37.091305.110100.


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