Aphrodite fritillary facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Aphrodite fritillary |
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| S. a. alcestis | |
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The Aphrodite fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite) is a beautiful orange fritillary butterfly. You can find these butterflies flying around in North America.
What Does It Look Like?
This butterfly has bright orange wings. Along the edges of its wings, you'll see rows of dark dots or V-shaped marks. Closer to its body, there are black or brown lines. The underside of its wings is also orange, with several rows of white dots.
The Aphrodite fritillary is a medium-sized butterfly. Its wingspan, which is the distance from one wingtip to the other, is usually between 51 and 73 mm. That's about the length of a credit card!
Where Do They Live?
Aphrodite fritillaries live across many parts of North America. Scientists have noticed something interesting about butterflies in North America. They are seeing that butterflies that like warm weather are moving further north. At the same time, butterflies that prefer cold weather are moving away from warmer areas. This change is happening because of shifts in the climate.
Subspecies
A subspecies is a group of animals within a species that has small differences, often because they live in different areas. Here are some known subspecies of the Aphrodite fritillary:
- S. a. alcestis (Edwards, 1876)
- S. a. byblis (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926)
- S. a. columbia (H. Edwards, 1877)
- S. a. ethene (Hemming, 1933)
- S. a. manitoba (F. & R. Chermock, 1940)
- S. a. whitehousei (Gunder, 1932)
- S. a. winni (Gunder, 1932)
Similar Butterflies
Sometimes, it can be tricky to tell the Aphrodite fritillary apart from other butterflies that look similar. Here are a few:
- Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis)
- Great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
- Northwestern fritillary (Speyeria hesperis)
