In August, wet meadows are a great place to find butterflies as they flock to native plant powerhouses like Joe Pye Weed, Swamp Milkweed and others. One of the families of butterflies you might find on these blooms are the Fritillaries, including some of our less common species in the state.
Which of the following butterflies is the less common Meadow Fritillary?
See below for the answer to this weeks’ quiz.
The butterfly on the left is the Meadow Fritillary. The butterfly on the right is the Silver-bordered Fritillary.
There are two easy ways to tell apart these two species from this upperside view. The Meadow Fritillary has small black dots along the lower border of the hindwing, whereas the Silver-bordered Fritillary has chevrons, which look like upside down Vs. The Meadow Fritillary also lacks the thick black edging to the wings of the Silver-borderd Fritillary and the distinctive white dotted edging which gives the Silver-bordered Fritillary its name.
If you have the chance to visit Europe, prepare to be confused by these species. The Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona) is a North American species, but the name Meadow Fritillary is used in Europe for the related Melitaea parthenoides, a butterfly that looks like the Silver-bordered Fritillary.
Meanwhile, the Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria myrina) only recently became a North American species in 2022. Prior to this, they were considered to be the same species as the European Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene). Although they look very similar and are highly related, genetic testing determined they were different species.
Silver-bordered Fritillary by Jeff Davis (iNaturalist)
Meadow Fritillary by Tracy Sherbrook (iNaturalist)
Ready to test your butterfly knowledge with next weeks’ quiz? Click here!
