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| Image from ohio-nature.com |
The great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele ) is a well known butterfly mainly because of its
large size, abundance, and widespread range. It is found in northern and
central United States and southern Canada. I t is only missing from northern
Canada and some of the southern states.
One part of its scientific name (cybele) means “mountain mother” or “earth mother”. The common name
comes from a Latin word, fritillus, which means chessboard or dice box. Another name for these handsome butterflies is
silverspots because of the metallic markings on their wing’s undersides. It is
possible that this pattern, similar to a leopard’s spots, serves as camouflage
when they are resting in places of dappled sun and shade spots.
Like many other butterflies, the great spangled fritillary caterpillars
are very picky about what they eat. They do not go for milkweeds as do
monarchs; they prefer violets instead. Without violets, there would be no
fritillaries. The adults, on the other hand are thirsty for nectar of many different
flowers.
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