''Boloria dia'', the Weaver's fritillary or violet fritillary, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

. The name Weaver's fritillary is in honor of Richard Weaver, an English insect collector who claimed to have obtained the specimen within ten miles of Birmingham around 1820. However, ''B. dia'' is very rare in England and the few specimens known from there are thought to be from possibly accidental introductions.

Description

The adult is a small fritillary with typically chequered orange-brown upperside and a submarginal row of triangles and dots. The forewing is 16–17 mm long. The underside of the hindwing has a distinctive purplish band.

Description in Seitz

A. dia L. (68f) is the smallest ''Argynnis''. Above usually more extended black than the other species; the basal area of the hindwing as a rule quite dark, the marginal area with a row of heavy black dots. The hindwing beneath variegated with purple and bearing silvery spots at the margin, in the median band and at the base. Throughout Central, North and East Europe, also in Anterior Asia eastwards to Mongolia. Specimens with a broad confluent median band are ab. ''vittata'' Spul. (= ''mediofasciata'' Schultz). In ab. ''hudaki'' Aign.,especially plentiful among the second brood, only the narrow median band of the hindwing is reddish yellow, the margin as well as the base being broadly black. — ''alpina'' Elw. now subspecies ''B. d. alpina''(Elwes, 1899] (68f) is the form from eastern Central Asia, described from the Altai; the ground-colour is duller, more leather-colour than reddish yellow. — Larva paler or darker grey, with a pale-edged blackish dorsal l ine and a reddish brown side-line; subdorsally there are small light spots in a blackish patch; the spines pale yellow with dark yellow base; in June and from September till April on Violaceae and Rubus, said to feed also on ''Prunella vulgaris''. Pupa brown; on the back with rows of small pointed tubercles. The butterfly in April and May and again from August onward in open places and clearings of woods, flying low and frequently visiting flowers. One finds the sleeping butterfly commonly hanging on flowering heather at night, the underside being admirably adapted to its small flowers. The species does not appear to be rare wherever it occurs, nor ever to be found in large numbers.

Adalbert Seitz Friedrich Joseph Adalbert Seitz, (24 February 1860 in Mainz – 5 March 1938 in Darmstadt) was a German physician and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He was a director of the Frankfurt zoo from 1893 to 1908 and is best known for editi ...

in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Similar species

''B. dia'' differs from the

pearl-bordered fritillary The pearl-bordered fritillary (''Boloria euphrosyne'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Europe and through Russia across the Palearctic to the north of Kazakhstan. Description The adult butterfly is orange with black spots on ...

in having a sharp angle to its hindwing (readily seen from underside when perched with wings closed). The similar Titania's fritillary has a less sharply-angled hindwing and only occurs at high altitude. In Europe the larvae feed on ''

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

'' species (''

Viola odorata ''Viola odorata'' is a species of flowering plant in the family ''Violaceae'' native to Eurasia. The small hardy herbaceous perennial is commonly known as wood violet, sweet violet, English violet, common violet, florist's violet, or garden viol ...

'', ''

Viola hirta ''Viola hirta'' is a species of the plant genus ''Viola''. It is also called the hairy violet. As with the sweet violet, no fossil seeds of this species have been found. It is confined to the cold temperate zone, in Europe, north and west Asia, ...

'', '' Viola canina'', ''

Viola reichenbachiana ''Viola reichenbachiana'', also known as the early dog-violet, pale wood violet, slender wood violet, hedge violet, or wood dog violet, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Viola'' genus.“Early Dog Violet (Viola Reichenbachiana) - Plants.� ...

'', ''

Viola tricolor ''Viola tricolor'' is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. The species is also known as wild pansy, Johnny Jump up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the yellow pansy), heartse ...

''), and outside Europe on ''

Prunella vulgaris ''Prunella vulgaris'', the common self-heal, heal-all, woundwort, heart-of-the-earth, carpenter's herb, brownwort or blue curls, is a herbaceous plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. Description ''Prunella vulgaris'' grows high, with creeping, s ...

'' and ''

Rubus idaeus ''Rubus idaeus'' (raspberry, also called red raspberry or occasionally European red raspberry to distinguish it from other raspberry species) is a red-fruited species of ''Rubus'' native to Europe and northern Asia and commonly cultivated in oth ...

''.

Distribution

''Boloria dia'' is found in Europe, over the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

east across the

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. It is widespread and common across southern France. In Europe it occurs from northern Spain, Italy and Greece to Poland, the Balkans and Turkey. Funet.fi
/ref>Fauna Europaea
/ref> It is not found in Britain.

Subspecies

* ''Clossiana dia dia'' western Europe * ''Clossiana dia alpina'' (Elwes, 1899) * ''Clossiana dia calida'' (Jachontov, 1911) * ''Clossiana dia disconota'' (Krulikovsky, 1909) central Europe and western Siberia * ''Clossiana dia semota'' Tuzov, 2000 * ''Clossiana dia setania'' (Fruhstorfer, 1909)

Etymology

Named in the Classical tradition.Dia ( Greek mythology ) is the wife of

Ixion In Greek mythology, Ixion ( ; ) was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly. Family Ixion was the son of Ares, or Leonteus (mythology), Leonteus, or Antion and Perimele, or the notorious evildoer Phlegyas, whose name connotes " ...

, king of the Lapiths .

Gallery

File: Petite violette - dos MHNT.jpg, Dorsal side File: Petite violette - ventre MHNT.jpg, Ventral side

References

External links

Vlindernet Butterflies of Europe
dia Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Heliconiinae-stub