Dark green fritillary

Dark green fritillary
Male, Val d'Aosta, Italy
Female, Elsenborn, Belgium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Argynnis
Species:	A. aglaja
Binomial name
Argynnis aglaja (Linnaeus, 1758)

The dark green fritillary (Argynnis aglaja) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic ecozone - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.

Subspecies

• A. a. aglaja Southern Europe, Central Europe, Caucasus, Altai, Sayan, West Siberia, South Siberia
• A. a. borealis (Strand, 1901) Europe, Siberia, Russian Far East, Kamchatka
• A. a. lyauteyi (Oberthür, 1920) Morocco (Middle Atlas)
• A. a. excelsior (Rothschild, 1933) Morocco (Rif Mountains)
• A. a. ottomana (Röber, 1896) Armenia, Talys, Kopet Dagh
• A. a. gigasvitatha (Verity, 1935) Tian-Shan, Ghissar, Darvaz, Alai, South Altai
• A. a. vitatha (Moore, 1874) Pamirs
• A. a. clavimacula (Matsumura, 1929) South Ussuri
• A. a. kenteana (Stichel, 1901) Transbaikalia, North Ussuri, Amur
• A. a. tonnai (Matsumura, 1928) Sakhalin
• A. a. bessa (Fruhstorfer, 1907) ?

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  Underside
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  Underside
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  Male
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  Female underside
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  Male and female
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  Kyrgyzstan postage stamp

United Kingdom

In the U.K. the habitat is often pastures and flowery banks, and nearby areas where the preferred food plants for the larvae, Viola canina and Viola riviniana, grow.

The dark green fritillary uses violets within bracken mosaics frequently consisting of one-third bracken and two-thirds grass, often on the edges of suitable high brown fritillary habitat. Their distribution can be found on the NBN website.

References

• Emmet, A.M., J. Heath et al. (Ed.), 1990. The Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland. The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland Vol. 7 Part 1 (Hesperiidae to Nymphalidae). Harley Books, Colchester, UK. 370p.
• Tomlinson, D. and R. Still, 2002. Britain's Butterflies. WildGuides, Old Basing, UK. 192p.
• Bracken for Butterflies Leaflet by Butterfly Conservation
• Crory, Andrew. 2016. Fritillary Butterflies. The Irish Hare. Ulster Wildlife Membership Magazine. Issue 113 p. 4