Boloria titania, the Titania's fritillary or purple bog fritillary, is a butterfly of the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae.
Description The adult is a small fritillary with a typically chequered orange-brown upperside and a marginal row of triangles and dots. The length of the forewings is 21–23 mm. The underside has brown pearly spots and triangular markings at the edge of the hindwings.
Description in Seitz
A. amathusia Esp. (= diana Hbn., titania Esp., dia major Esp.) (68e). Above similar to large specimens of euphrosyne. The hindwing beneath is very characteristic, being strongly variegated with purple, its distal band deeply dentate on both sides and bearing purple-brown partly pale-centred dots. In the nymotypical form the forewing beneath also shows at the distal margin pointed teeth which project far on to the disc... In the Alps. — bivina Fruhst. is the eastern European form; smaller, paler, with somewhat thinner lilac markings; darker beneath, the median band of the hindwing more uniformly yellow, not being variegated with red; from Saratow. — In sibirica Stgr.[B. titania ssp. staudingeri Wnukowsky, 1929] (68f) the band occupying the distal area much less deeply and more evenly indented on both sides from the mountains of South-West Siberia.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)
Distribution This species is present in the Palearctic realmFauna Europaea from central Europe to Siberia and the Altai. Small isolates are formed in the Alps, southern Finland, Latvia, Poland, and the Balkans in Europe.
Subspecies Clossiana titania titania Clossiana titania bivina (Fruhstorfer, 1908) central and southern Europe Clossiana titania miyakei (Matsumura, 1919) Sakhalin, Amur Clossiana titania staudingeri (Wnukowsky, 1929) southern Siberia
Biology Depending on the location, the butterfly flies in subalpine meadows from June to August. The larvae feed on Viola species, Vaccinium uliginosum, Bistorta major, Filipendula ulmaria and Trollius asiaticus."Clossiana Reuss, 1920" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
Etymology Named in the Classical tradition. In Greek mythology, Titanide is a daughter of the Titans. Her sisters are Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys.
References
Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord, Delachaux et Niestlé, Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington
External links
Butterflies of Europe euro butterflies butterfly guide