Fritillaries for lockdown viewers.

[Medard]

Hi Pete.
The Marsh Fritillary. I had intended to use the Marsh fritillary in my top ten,  but seeing your contribution Pete I am now happy that I left the floor to you,  Numbers one, seven and eight are wonderful examples from natures design bureau,  are these from the UK ? The others that I agonised over were the Balkan’s Fritillary, Titania, so well described by Guy and of course the Asian Fritilary that I was so fortunate to find thanks to your input.

[petesmith]

Hi Pete.
The Marsh Fritillary. I had intended to use the Marsh fritillary in my top ten,  but seeing your contribution Pete I am now happy that I left the floor to you,  Numbers one, seven and eight are wonderful examples from natures design bureau,  are these from the UK ?

Thanks Jim. I should have annotated them with some degree of location detail.
Numbers 1,7,8 and 9 are from central Lincolnshire. Number 1 is fairly typical of this location.
Number 4 was taken in Var.
Numbers 2,3 and 5 were taken in south-east France (from near Digne and Rimplas), whilst number 6 was taken at altitude in the Queyras.

Like others, I am full of anticipation for the remaining top 5 selections still to come - some fabulous photo's and species so far!

[Medard]

A trip to Lincolnshire will have to be made then, don't no when. Thanks Pete.

[Roger Gibbons]

There seems to be a high degree of consensus on our favourite Fritillaries, perhaps not surprisingly given the rarity of some.

Here are my top 5:

No. 5 Cardinal (Argynnis pandora)
Every other species is called a Fritillary, but not this one, for no apparent reason. Not that it matters. It is a species where the female outshines the male, with beautiful bronze-green suffusion. The underside is a female, too. It is superficially very similar to a female Silver-washed Fritillary, but pandora has a red colouration on the lower half or the forewing, as is just visible here.

No. 4 Mountain Fritillary (Boloria napaea)
A high altitude Fritillary, usually found at 2000m and above. It often flies in company with Shepherd’s Fritillary (B. pales), but napaea gets my vote because of the very fine and delicate black markings and the subtlety of the underside.

No. 3 Bog Fritillary (B. eunomia)
Very localised in France and it seems the sites in the Morvan are quite well-known. It is surprising that it is so uncommon, given that the larval hostplant is Bistort, which is common in damp meadows at medium altitude. The male is very similar to the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (B. selene) and the female has the upperside suffusion common to Boloria species. The underside (this one is a female) is also very similar to selene but the post-discal marks are clear circles in eunomia. This may be relevant as I have seen them flying together.

No. 2 Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate)
It seems that this is a popular favourite, mainly because it is very appealing as well as its relative rarity. It is not uncommon in north-east Var and over the border in the Alpes-Maritimes. The male is a very cleanly marked species and the female has a slightly darker suffusion. The shot of the female is actually of a mating pair, the male below being considerate enough to get out of the shot. They had closed wings while mating in overcast conditions, but when the sun came out, the female opened up. The underside is very cleanly marked, too, this one being a male.

No.1 Scarce Fritillary (Euphydryas maturna)
A popular choice for everyone’s number one or close to it. And very understandably so. The male is very appealingly marked on the upperside and the underside (as this one) is just breathtaking. The female is rather redder in its markings, although this one especially so. I haven’t included Asian Fritillary (E. intermedia) because it is so similar to maturna, and I have also left out the iconic Cynthia’s Fritillary (E. cynthia), not because it doesn’t merit a place, but because it has been very well covered elsewhere by Pete and Jim in particular.

Roger

[David M]

Very nice, Roger. How on earth do I follow that?

When is hecate's flight period in France?

[Roger Gibbons]

A hybrid, perhaps

Hecate in my local patch flies from around mid-May until around the end of the first week in June. It was seriously sheep-grazed a couple of years ago and is only just recovering.

Roger

[David M]

..A hybrid, perhaps..

Not this time, Roger, I can assure you!

I asked about the flight period of hecate because I suspected it was quite early and I was a bit puzzled as to why I see them in Spain in early August.

[David M]

#8 - High Brown Fritillary

This choice proves how fickle things can be if you have a wider, European perspective. As a UK Fritillary, it would have to be No. 1 but it is quite common in the places I visit on the continent, so it's position here is no longer related to its rarity, more to its beauty and behaviour.

A fresh High Brown is an imposing insect. Those ocelli on the unh are something to behold, which is why it eases past both Silver Washed and Dark Green...

[David M]

#7 - Marsh Fritillary

If this were a UK contest, High Brown would shade Marsh Fritillary, but the sheer number of different forms (not all of which I've seen) on the continent force me to opt for it to have a higher position here.

The UK 'standard' is attractive enough:

However, for me the form beckeri is sufficient to warrant a high ranking for this species. Not only does it look markedly different (bigger with a far greater red suffusion) but its behaviour challenges your established instincts too. It perches at shoulder level on shrubs and darts out at passing insects much as a Duke of Burgundy would.

I'm used to my local Marshies flying low over the damp sward on the Commons adjacent to where I live. It's quite a shock to see what is ostensibly the same species settling at a height where I struggle to train my camera lens down on it and spontaneously fighting with all passers by!

[Kip]

There can be only one Frit that takes my vote, - Boloria polaris from Finnmark in Norway... there weren't many, and there was a lot of land!

[essexbuzzard]

That’s understandable, Kip. Not the most beautiful, perhaps, but I’m terms of rarity and the fact that you have found it, and most of us never will, more than worthy.

[David M]

Top quality, Kip! Would certainly have made my top three had I seen it myself.

[petesmith]

There can be only one Frit that takes my vote, - Boloria polaris from Finnmark in Norway... there weren't many, and there was a lot of land!
180709 B. polaris _ Alta _0152.jpg180709 B. polaris _ Alta _ _0107.jpg

A tremendous find there Kip! Surely seen by very few enthusiasts indeed...

[Roger Gibbons]

I agree. I would certainly have included it, near the top of the list.

I have great respect for these hardy species that exist in the most inhospitable climates, which is why Glandon Blue and Grisons Fritillary made it onto my lists.

If I had seen Dusky-winged Fritillary, probably the dullest-looking Fritillary, it would definitely have been in.

[Kip]

I was a couple of hundred miles from the Dusky-winged Frit site, so didn't go... I have never seen Asian, Scarce, Twin-spot Frits so am in awe of some of those other precious photos posted here.
On the other hand, I may have missed thore here but that is another real favourite in my book, these two shots show the difference between Alpine and Arctic individuals...

Italy...

Finnmark...

[David M]

#6 - Grison's Fritillary

This is a welcome and regular high-altitude companion in the French Alps during early July.

It looks quite delicate, but it is adapted to survive the harshest conditions, which gives me a healthy respect for it.

It is a puddler par excellence which isn't the case with a lot of Fritillaries, so if you stumble on a good spot, it's not uncommon to see fair numbers of them:

[Medard]

Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate) my location for hecate is situated in the department of Lot, after we left our very rustic but peaceful campsite, a butterfly paradise, the neighbouring paddocks were alive with many species,
Following my comments and enthusiastic interest in the butterfies around his campsite, I do wonder, was the owner inspired to renamed the campsite ? Camping Domaine Papillon - Campsite

Twin-spot Fritillary (Brenthis hecate)

https://jamesgibbs6929.zenfolio.com/

[David M]

Many thanks for the campsite info, Jim. A facet of European travel I intend to explore extensively in the not too distant future!

[David M]

#5 - Balkan Fritillary

This species has a very limited range in western Europe (I guess the clue is in the name).

Thanks to the venerable Roger G I know exactly where to find it. The journey is rather a bind but the reward is worth it:

[PhilBJohnson]

In 2017, we visited Sweden for approximately 20 days, had not been there before, had not been back since.
In that time I thought we saw at least four of our United Kingdom Fritillary Species:
This was how far we got with our "working holiday" video edits:
https://youtu.be/253j3yvvntY
We hope to return one day to continue our studies, having had our best intentions way delayed.

Kind Regards