Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly - (Speyeria aphrodite)

A garden filled with violets, milkweed and thistles will tempt an Aphrodite Fritillary in any stage of life and keep generations interested for years to come.

Picture of Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly

Pic of the Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly

Staff Writer (5/17/2017): Aphrodite is the Greek god of love, pleasure and beauty. The Aphrodite Fritillary is a lovely summertime butterfly that produces one brood each year. It has many close relatives that look very similar to it making identification somewhat of a challenge. To complicate things, males and females are different sizes and hues vary in different regions of the continent. The yellow-green eyes of the Aphrodite Fritillary is a fast way to eliminate almost all relatives. The Great Spangled Fritillary and Atlantis Fritillary share their range and also have yellow-green eyes, but are overall larger and smaller (respectively) than the medium-sized Aphrodite.

Males are smaller than females and may have a two week head start in life. They actively search for females in warm parts of the day.Females can be seen walking on the ground near violets where they lay fertilized eggs at a rate of about one per plant. The caterpillar that hatches eats the leaves off many types of violets in late summer. It retreats in a shelter of leaves for the winter and emerges again in the spring when violets begin growing. They will pupate for two to three weeks in early summer. Adults can be seen drinking nectar from a variety of wildflowers. Milkweed, dogbane, thistle and Joe Pye weed are popular flowering plants that feed adults.

Meadows, fields, woods, marshes, bogs, prairies and barren land are all home to the Aphrodite Fritillary. Various elevations also suit this species, so high ranges and mountains are normal habitats.

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Details of the:
Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly

Category: Butterfly or Moth
Common name: Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly
Scientific Name: Speyeria aphrodite

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Nymphalidae

Genus: Speyeria

Species: aphrodite

Size (Adult, Length): 55mm to 80mm (2.17in to 3.15in)

Identifying Colors: orange, black, white, silver

Additional Descriptors: flying, helpful, spotted

North American Reach (Though Not Limited To*): Arizona; Colorado; Connecticut; Delaware; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Montana; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Vermont; Virginia; West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming; Alberta; British Columbia; Manitoba; New Brunswick; Newfoundland and Labrador; Nova Scotia; Ontario; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Saskatchewan

* Keep in mind that an insect's reach is not limited by lines on a map and therefore may appear in areas/regions/states beyond those listed above.

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