Queen of Spain Fritillary

Issoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status

Description

A medium sized golden-brown butterfly with black spots on the upperside. The underside of the hindwing has large silver spots, which makes it quite distinctive, and shouldn’t be confused with any other species. Males and females are similar. 

Habitat Requirements

Given the highly migratory nature of this species it is unlikely to be restricted to any particular habitat but see the observations.

Larval Foodplants

Mediterranean White Violet Viola alba(flowers fragrant, white or blue-violet),
Mediterranean White Violet Viola alba subsp. alba (flowers fragrant, white or blue-violet), Mediterranean White Violet Viola alba subsp. dehnhardtii (flowers fragrant, white or blue-violet), Field Pansy Viola arvensis, Viola cephalonica, Dwarf Pansy Viola kitaibeliana, Sweet Violet Viola odorata, Early Dog-violet Viola reichenbachiana.

Observations

The first two individuals of this species that were recorded by members of CBC were in 2017 and 2020.  The first was made at 15.02hrs, 9th April 2017 by Dan Danahar, Bob Giles, Colin Knight, Richard Roebuck, Sarah Canning, Chris Little and Giannis Gasteratos, near to 750m above sea level (just below the summit of Mt Pantokrator 906m).

The second sighting was made by Bri Smith on a walk in Aghios Georgios North on 14 October 2020. The individual was feeding on Aromatic Inula Dittrichia vicosa.

Since then all sightings have been in May or June on Pantokrator except for a single individual seen by David and Lesley Shearan in October 2022 on the Corfu Trail north of Giannades  

Given the possible hill topping behaviour of the early individuals and the late arrival of the other individuals (when many migrants come to Corfu) it is most probable that these specimens were migrants.

*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Queen of Spain Fritillary submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.

First and Last Sightings

Year First Last/latest # Days
2022 14/05/2022 16/10/2022 155 days
2021 02/06/2021 12/06/2021 10 days

Number of Observations

Year Number of observations
2023 0
2022 4
2021 7
Grand Total 11

Distribution Map

Distribution maps for this species are currently unavailable.

Flight Times for the Queen of Spain Fritillary (2023)

The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023

Flight Times for the Queen of Spain Fritillary (All Data)

The chart below shows flight data by month since 1st January 2021

Taxonomy

  • Vernacular/Common Name: Queen of Spain Fritillary
  • Family: Nymphalidae (Rafinesque, 1815)
  • Sub-family: Heliconiinae (Swainson, 1822)
  • Tribe: Argynnini (Duponchel, 1835)
  • Genus: Issoria (Hübner, 1819)
  • Species: lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758)

References

For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.