Butterfly - Speyeria cybele

Moved

… john and jane balaban, 26 August, 2007 - 8:30pm

Great Spangled - sure

The underside photo would give it away if you had one.

If you compare Aphrodite and Atlantis with Great Spangled you'll see the first two have a black mark under the black D-shaped marks on the leading edge of the forewing. Your photo lacks the spot which, according to Glassberg, makes it a Great Spangled. That fits with every photo I've taken where I have the upper and lower photos to verify the Great Spangled and/or Aphrodite/Atlantis.

According to Kaufman, the black veins on the forewing are not present on Aphrodite. And it's eyes are orange-green where the Atlantis' eyes are gray.

So there's enough here to convince me it's Great Spangled. And given the location we can luckily exclude the western fritillaries. Those things will drive you nuts.

The other photo referenced in one of the comments has a very faint mark (or two). Great Spangleds do not have that faint mark.

… Mo Whalen, 10 July, 2007 - 11:01pm

Great Spangled Fritillary

To me, it looks more like a Great Spangled Fritillary. Compare it to this one:

… Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, 2 July, 2007 - 12:03pm

Fritillary

This is a greater fritillary in the genus Speyeria. I'm not sure about the species, but it could be the Atlantis Fritillary, seen here

, based on your location.

… Bobby Grizzard, 2 July, 2007 - 9:39am

Fritillary

Hi Bobby,

Thank you so much for your reply. It does look like an excellent match. I really appreciate your input.

… Edith Kangas, 2 July, 2007 - 9:55am