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Frigga Fritillary - Boloria frigga
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986; Glassberg 2001; Guppy and Shepard 2001] Forewing 1.9-2.3 cm. Upper surface of wings yellow-orange to orange-brown with black markings, the basal half of wings mostly blackish, discal cell end-bar on forewing solid black. Underside of hindwing pink-frosted on the outer 1/3 to deep purplish, with prominent off-white to silver oblong patch near base of coastal margin.
Phenology
One flight; mostly June to July (July to early August in Labrador) (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986); late May to mid-July but only one week at any locality (Glassberg 2001); late May to late July in British Columbia (Guppy and Shepard 2001).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Best distinguished by a combination of the basal half of dorsal wing surface mostly blackish, discal cell end-bar on forewing solid black; underside of hindwing pink-frosted on the outer 1/3 to deep purplish, prominent off-white to silver oblong patch near base of coastal margin.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
Holarctic. In North America, throughout boreal and arctic Alaska and Canada east to Labrador, south in the Midwestern US to the Great Lakes region, with isolated populations in the Rocky Mountains south of Canada to Wyoming and south central Colorado (Scott 1986; Glassberg 2001); between 2593-3355 m elevation in Colorado (Brown 1957; Ferris and Brown 1981) Not documented in Montana prior to 1993 (Kohler 1980; Stanford and Opler 1993), now reported from Beaverhead, Gallatin and Madison Counties in the southwest, Glacier County in the northwest (Glassberg 2001; FLMNH Lepidopterists' Society database; MNHP); between 2040-2680 m elevation.
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 3
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Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Migration
Non-migratory.
Habitat
Shrub willow bogs, spruce bogs, true sphagnum bogs, arctic tundra (Ferris and Brown 1981; Shepard 1986; Glassberg 2001; Guppy and Shepard 2001). Habitat in Montana not reported.
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Alpine
Alpine - Vegetated
Wetland and Riparian
Alkaline - Saline Wetlands
Alpine Riparian and Wetland
Peatland
Wet Meadow and Marsh
Food Habits
Larval food plants include Betula, Dryas, Rubus, and Salix (probably the main host plant genus in the Rocky Mountains) (Ferris and Brown 1981; Scott 1986, 1992; Guppy and Shepard 2001). Adults feed on flower nectar (including Cardamine, Pedicularis, Polygonum, Salix, Sedum, Valeriana) and mud (Scott 2014).
Reproductive Characteristics
Limited information. Females lay eggs singly on or near host plants (often on sedges) on the undersides of dead leaves or twigs. Rate of larval development not reported. Overwinters as L4 instar (Scott 1986, 1992). Males patrol thoughout the day in low spots of willow bogs as they search for females (Scott 1975b, 1986).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Brown, F.M. 1957. Colorado Butterflies. Proceedings; Numbers Three through Seven. Denver Museum of Natural History, Denver, Co.- Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown (eds). 1981. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountains. Univ. of Oklahoma Press. Norman. 442 pp.
- Glassberg, J. 2001. Butterflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Western North America. Oxford University Press.
- Guppy, C.S. and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia: including western Alberta, southern Yukon, the Alaska Panhandle, Washington, northern Oregon, northern Idaho, northwestern Montana. UBC Press (Vancouver, BC) and Royal British Columbia Museum (Victoria, BC). 414 pp.
- Kohler, S. 1980. Checklist of Montana Butterflies (Rhopalocera). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 34(1): 1-19.
- Scott, J.A. 1975b. Mate-locating behavior of western North American butterflies. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14:1-40.
- Scott, J.A. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- Scott, J.A. 1992. Hostplant records for butterflies and skippers (mostly from Colorado) 1959-1992, with new life histories and notes on oviposition, immatures, and ecology. Papilio new series #6. 185 p.
- Scott, J.A. 2014. Lepidoptera of North America 13. Flower visitation by Colorado butterflies (40,615 records) with a review of the literature on pollination of Colorado plants and butterfly attraction (Lepidoptera: Hersperioidea and Papilionoidea). Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthopod Diversity. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 190 p.
- Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western USA butterflies: including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Unpubl. Report. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado 275 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Allen, T.J., J.P. Brock, and J. Glassberg. 2005. Caterpillars in the field and garden: a field guide to the butterfly caterpillars of North America. Oxford University Press.
- Brock, J.P. and K. Kaufman. 2003. Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY 284 pp.
- Caruthers, J.C., and D. Debinski. 2006. Montane meadow butterfly species distributions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. University of Wyoming National Park Service Research Center Annual Report, 2006. Vol. 30, Art. 14. 85-96.
- Debinski, D.M., R.E. VanNimwegen, and M.E. Jakubauskas. 2006. Quantifying relationships between bird and butterfly community shifts and environmental change. Ecological Applications 16(1): 380-393.
- Forister, M.L., E.M. Grames, C.A. Halsch, K.J. Burls, C.F. Carroll, K.L. Bell, J.P. Jahner, et al. 2023. Assessing risk for butterflies in the context of climate change, demographic uncertainty, and heterogeneous data sources. Ecological Monographs 93(3):e1584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1584
- Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
- Opler, P.A. and A.B. Wright. 1999. A field guide to western butterflies. Second edition. Peterson Field Guides. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 540 pp.
- Opler, P.A. and A.D. Warren. 2002. Scientific names list for butterfly species of North America, north of Mexico. C.P Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 79 pp.
- Opler, P.A., K. Lotts, and T. Naberhaus, coordinators. 2010. Butterflies and moths of North America. Big Sky Institute, Bozeman, MT. Available at: www.butterfliesandmoths.org (Accessed 15 June 2015).
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