Pollinator
Aphrodite fritillary
Argynnis aphrodite
A silver-spangled greater fritillary, close kin to the great spangled.
- Family
- Nymphalidae (brush-footed)
- Wingspan
- 2 to 2.9 in (5.1 to 7.3 cm)
- Flight season
- Summer (one brood)
- Range
- Northern and eastern North America
- Caterpillar food
- Violets (Viola)
- Conservation
- Secure and widespread
The aphrodite fritillary is a large orange butterfly spangled beneath with bright silver spots, very like the great spangled fritillary but a touch smaller and often deeper in color.
It flies in a single summer brood across northern meadows and openings, nectaring on milkweeds, thistles, and coneflowers.
Like other greater fritillaries, its caterpillars feed at night on violets and overwinter young, so a patch of native violets is what they need.
Plants for the aphrodite fritillary
4 caterpillar host plants and 26 documented nectar plants. Pick a role, then narrow with the filters below.
30 plants
Nectar
1 of 2 Common yarrow complex Achillea millefolium Nectar
1 of 2 Butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Nectar
1 of 3 Wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa Nectar
1 of 3 Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata Nectar
1 of 2 Common boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum Nectar
Virgin's-bower Clematis virginiana Nectar
Cup plant Silphium perfoliatum Nectar
1 of 2 Pickerelweed Pontederia cordata Nectar
1 of 3 Great blanketflower Gaillardia aristata Nectar
1 of 2 Tall goldenrod Solidago altissima Nectar
1 of 2 Showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa Nectar
1 of 2 Spreading dogbane Apocynum androsaemifolium Nectar
1 of 2 Common wrinkle-leaved goldenrod Solidago rugosa Nectar
1 of 2 Hoary vervain Verbena stricta Nectar
1 of 2 Large-leaved aster Eurybia macrophylla Nectar
1 of 2 Flat-topped goldenrod Euthamia graminifolia Nectar
1 of 2 Prairie blazing star Liatris pycnostachya Nectar
1 of 2 Dotted gayfeather Liatris punctata Nectar
1 of 2 Virginia mountain mint Pycnanthemum virginianum Nectar
1 of 2 Sulfur buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum Nectar
1 of 2 Aspen fleabane Erigeron speciosus Nectar
1 of 3 Rough blazing star Liatris aspera Host
1 of 2 Bird's foot violet Viola pedata Host
1 of 2 California Golden Violet Viola pedunculata Nectar
1 of 2 Showy goldenrod species complex Solidago speciosa Host
1 of 2 Prairie Violet Viola pedatifida Nectar
He-huckleberry Lyonia ligustrina Nectar
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis Host
1 of 2 Long-spurred violet Viola rostrata Nectar
Fireweed Chamerion angustifolium
1 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 31 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 31 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 2No plants match those filters.
Sources
- Butterflies and Moths of North America ↗
- iNaturalist ↗
- Plant associations from GloBI flower-visit records and NPIN larval-host data. Butterfly photographs via iNaturalist (CC BY).