Boloria improba

Boloria improba, the dingy fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. In Europe it is only found in small parts of Scandinavia, more specifically the border region between Norway, Sweden and Finland. The species is also present in North America in the northeastern part of Alaska and some isolated populations in the Canadian part of the Rocky Mountains, southwestern Wyoming and southwestern Colorado. In Russia it is present in the northeast (the Chukotka region).

Dingy fritillary
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Genus:
Boloria
Species:
B. improba
Binomial name
Boloria improba
Butler, 1877

The wingspan is 28–34 mm. Seitz improba Btlr., one of the Lepidoptera which go farthest north, from Nova Semblia, is smaller and above darker [ than frigga]; on the hindwing beneath the median band is somewhat less bright yellow and the rhomb before the middle of the costa is vivid bluish white.[1]

The larvae probably feed on Polygonum viviparum in Europe. In North America the food plants are Salix arctica and Salix reticulata nivalis.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognized:

  • B. i. acrocnema in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado
  • B. i. harryi in the Wind River Mountains in southwestern Wyoming
  • B. i. improba in Alaska and northwestern Canada. The Siberian variant which is more yellow are considered the same subspecies, they are called form youngi.
  • B. i. improbula northern Scandinavia

References
  1. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.


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