InsectNet forum

If its one thing that we do have here in the U.S.
(when it comes to butterflies); we seem to have
garnered a generous share of fritillary species !

Basically, any states west of the Mississippi river
have a preponderance of fritillary species as well
as numerous named subspecies. East of the mighty
mississippi we still experiance a reasonable number
of fritillaries and all are "flighty" and attractive
in field.

Perhaps, it could be said that all the vast stretches
of land once nothing more than open "natural" prairie
(thru time) has provided the catalyst for such speciation.

Nevertheless, we have some outstanding "gems" amongst
our fritillary holdings and one of those highlights is the
incomparable Regal Fritillary( Speyeria idalia).

The species haunts have been much reduced over these
last 40 or so years (at least). However, it still has some
strongholds and in some places it is protected and for-
bidden to be collected. Yet, in other spaces not so much.

I thought I would show you not only a particularly choice
(female) representative of the species but, also the largest
female example that I have. This (queen) measures 89mm
at the outstretched wings. She was collected by a good
friend who happens to have a field nearby his home (here
in Illinois) which still produces this lovely butterfly.

Here is an view of the equally magnificent
underside of a typical female.

Males of this species aren't half bad neither !
Though, they look similar in appearance to
females that hindwing outer edge (curve) of
orange spots belies that you have a male.

As well, females are noticeably larger and
their outer edge (curve) of spots are cream
colored.

These males also came from my friend's secret
little "gold mine" regal field located near his
home. Lucky guy !

One of my absolute favorites as my profile shows
I'm fortunate to have a very nice series with specimens from Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota.

A very nice series Tim of an incomparable species !

You have been fortunate to acquire them from so many places. It's a real standout in any butterfly collection...

Idalia is one of my favourites as well, my females come in a bit under Trehopr's 89mm. My favourite speyeria is diana which I was lucky to capture a few in West Virginia back in July of 1986. Got one fresh female (second from the bottom) and a number of males. Great memories. Did not see any idalia on that trip though.

That's a fine drawer of Speyeria there mothman55 !
Well done. Lovely, specimens....

I only had opportunity once to collect S. diana in W. Virginia
but, did get 2 fine males and 1 (fair) female before my luck
ran out. Saw several more males within days but, was a bit
late on the hatch so all the rest encountered were pretty
beat-up. I still don't have a supreme example of a female !

Any chance you could show us a close-up of the 3 females
in the bottom right which all show a nice (variance) of the
blue and blue/green coloration the females are known for ?

Sure, and there is also some variation in the males also.

My mistake, think I have the closeup now.

They look fantastic !!
Even better close-up.
You're right, the males likewise show some subtle diversity I really never took notice of because I only caught two good ones.

Your series of both are marvelous and I wish I could have been as fortunate to be right there on the "hatch" like you were so I could have secured a few more varied and nice examples.

Thank you so much for the bother of getting the close-ups and for indulging my inordinate fondness for this butterfly species.

Love this thread! More....

Here's my full Speyeria collection, worked pretty hard to get a hold of a specimen of every species found in the USA (trading).

Outstanding Tim !!
There's a fair bunch of those species which I have never gotten hold of and probably never will...

That's quite a personal accomplishment given how many species are found out in our Western States.

Rock On !

Great to see all the Speyeria species. I don't see many of them in my area. I need to plan a road trip.

Though I cannot compare (numerically) to mothman55's
excellent series of (female) Speyeria diana's; I can at the
very least show my fine premium (blue-form) example
which was collected by a friend in Georgia/Union Co.
during the first week of August 2011.



I have to say that on his occasion there he managed
getting some 10 (female) specimens and virtually all
were spectacularly large. This specimen (wingtip to
wingtip) measures solidly 10 cm.

He caught 5 others rivaling this one in size and his luck was
impeccable as he was on a "hatch" --- so, all were very
fresh.

Most times females appear more as bluish-green individuals
but, here and there others really "pop" especially so, in their
much BOLDER blue appearance.

This species and in particular (its females) still remains just
about the most popular AND "coveted" fritillary species from
coast to coast !

Remarkable that fresh females were emerging as late as early August in Georgia. In the mountains of eastern Tennessee females usually appear shortly after the 4th of July, and are usually at peak abundance (not dispersed yet?) around July 12-14. Maybe it was a year when things were overall late to emerge?

Perhaps that is the case here John because I surveyed his entire series from his visit and all were caught between August 2nd thru 7th of 2011.

A 1st time, very recent, discovery video about the Regal Fritillary. This man is one serious collector (I believe he works as a professional entomologist)... checkout his other videos... narration is not the greatest, but still interesting collecting & collection curation videos:



We had one very worn specimen collected (not by me!) here in southern Saskatchewan, Canada a number of years ago.

John K.