Small pearl-bordered fritillary
The small pearl-bordered fritillary is a bright orange butterfly with black spots and zigzags. Under its back wings it has shiny silver patches that look like little pearls. It flutters over damp meadows and sunny woodland clearings.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillars eat only violets and do most of their eating at night.
The caterpillars sleep through the winter and wake up in spring to finish growing.
The chrysalis hangs head down for two or three weeks before the butterfly comes out.
In some parts of Europe there are now 80 out of every 100 fewer of them, because their meadows became farmland.
Most asked questions about Small pearl-bordered fritillary
?What does the small pearl-bordered fritillary eat?
The butterflies drink nectar from bramble, thistle and bugle. The caterpillars eat violets.
?Why is it called pearl-bordered?
Because of the shiny silver spots, like pearls, under its back wings.
?Where does the small pearl-bordered fritillary live?
In damp meadows and woodland clearings in Europe, Asia and North America.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Boloria selene
- Named by
- Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Small pearl-bordered fritillary (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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