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Alberta Fritillary - Boloria alberta
General Description
[From Ferris and Brown 1981, Scott 1986, Glassberg 2001, Guppy and Shepard 2001] Forewing length 2.0-2.3 cm. Adults appear melanic and greasy (males dingy orange, females dingy brownish and paler orange), forewing with ventral post-median spots very faint or absent but with small black marginal points at veins, ventral hindwing with gray smudges and median band suffused with brownish.
Phenology
One flight, from early July to early August (Scott 1986, Guppy and Shepard 2001).
Diagnostic Characteristics
Combination of washed out appearance and underwing markings are distinctive among the fritillaries.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
The Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and Alberta south to extreme northern Montana in Glacier and Flathead counties of Glacier National Park (Kohler 1980, Guppy and Shepard 2001); most recently (2005) extended south in Montana to Teton County (S. Kohler, personal communication). Locally rare (Glassberg 2001).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 1
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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
High elevation alpine fellfield and scree hillsides, rarely flats or hilltops (Scott 1986, Guppy and Shepard 2001). Above treeline in alpine habitat in Glacier National Park (Debinski 1993).
Food Habits
Larval food plants probably include alpine avens (Dryas octopetala), although oviposition on this plant documented only in captivity (Scott 1986, Guppy and Shepard 2001), and larvae yet to be observed feeding on this (or any) plant species. Adults feed on flower nectar (Scott 1986).
Reproductive Characteristics
Little information. Eggs laid on Dryas by females in captivity, and hatch in about 10 days. L1 instar hibernates, older larvae may hibernate a second winter; two years required for development from egg to adult. Males patrol all day near the presumptive larval host plant (Dryas), close to the ground on rocky hillsides, rarely on flats and hilltops (Scott 1986, Guppy and Shepard 2001).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Debinski, D. 1993. Butterflies of Glacier National Park, Montana. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. No. 159: 1-13.- 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. 1986. The butterflies of North America: a natural history and field guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
- 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.
- Debinski, D. M. 1991. Inventory and monitoring of biodiversity: an assessment of methods and a case study of Glacier National Park, MT. Ph.D. Dissertation. Montana State University, Bozeman. 205 p.
- 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.
- 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.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Alberta Fritillary"
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