It is one thing to recognize that you have seen a fritillary and quite another to key it down to species (let alone to subspecies). This visual guide to the Fritillaries is intended to help those trying to make sense of the differences between species and subspecies, at least populations that occur in Oregon and Washington.
I have photographed specimens from the state Lepiodoptera collection at Oregon State University (my thanks to those who maintain the collection) to ensure accurate identification and provide more complete coverage. I give both ventral and dorsal views, the latter being more diagnostic for frittillaries. I try to include enough individuals to give some sense of the variability within subspecies.
My intent is to complement printed guides by providing more examples and larger formats than is possible in a printed guide. See Pyle's Butterflies of Cascadia for comments on subspecies differences and plates covering most of our subspecies. Guppy and Shepard's Butterflies of British Columbia provides slightly larger photos and range maps color coded to distinguish subspecies. Both guides give both dorsal and ventral views and identify gender. See Hinchliff's An Atlas of Oregon Butterflies and its Washington counterpart for more detailed range information.
Fritillaries (Subfamily Heliconiinae)
Select the species to view subspecies.
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