North American Butterflies and Moths List

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Butterflies of North America

Butterflies of Colorado

Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
JPG -- species photo

Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe [Boisduval])

Wing span: 2 - 2 1/2 inches (5 - 6.4 cm).

Identification: Upperside tawny to bright red-brown with dark, evenly-spaced markings. Underside has triangular silver submarginal spots with narrow brown edging; other spots large and usually silvered.

Life history: Males perch and patrol for females. Eggs are laid singly in litter near violets. Unfed first-stage caterpillars hibernate until spring, when they feed on violet leaves.

Flight: One brood from May-August.

Caterpillar hosts: Violets including Viola purpurea, V. pedunculata, V. beckwithii, V. douglasii, and V. nuttallii.

Adult food:

Habitat: Sagebrush, chaparral, dry woodland, prairie hills.

Range: Central British Columbia east to South Dakota and Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.

Conservation: Subspecies callippe in California's San Francisco Bay Area is threatened with extinction.

Speyeria callippe callippe has The Nature Conservancy rank of T1 - Critically imperiled because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range).

Management needs: Protect and manage populations of subspecies callippe.

References:

Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, 
     Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.

Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co., 
     Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.

Author: Jane M. Struttmann

State and Regional References:

Brown, F.M., Eff, J.D., and B. Rotger. 1957. Colorado Butterflies. Denver 
     Museum of Natural History, Denver.

Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown. 1980. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. 
     University of Oklahoma Press. Norman.

Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998.  The Butterflies of 
     Canada.  University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON.  280 pp. 

Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised 
     edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.

Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies. 
     Privately published, Denver, Colo.

Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. 
     Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
distribution map
map legend

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