Nymphalidae (brushfooted butterflies)
The regal fritillary is a large, beautiful, and distinctive butterfly that is now almost completely confined to high-quality native tallgrass prairie habitats. The upperside of the forewings is bright rusty orange with black markings. The upperside of the hindwing is mostly black, with a row of white spots curving across the middle of the wing (a postmedian row). Another row of spots runs closer to the outer margin (a submarginal row); these submarginal spots are white in females and orange in males. Females also tend to be larger, and the tip of the forewing is dark with small white spots along the edge.
Seen from below, the hindwings are distinctively blackish gray and covered with silvery white spots.
The caterpillars are velvety black to yellowish or deep orange, with orange or reddish stripes, and with yellowish-white, branching spines with black tips.
Similar species: The great spangled fritillary (S. cybele), a close relative, is much more common in our state. There are a few other fritillaries recorded from Missouri, but they are rare, showing up in our state only occasionally, when they migrate here from other regions.
Wingspan: 3–4 inches. Caterpillars can grow up to 1¾ inches long.
Restricted to tallgrass prairies. Locally common in prairies in western Missouri, and less common in northeastern Missouri. Practically absent from the eastern Ozarks and Mississippi Lowlands. Formerly occurred in a variety of open habitats including pastures and roadsides. Populations are declining because their prairie habitat is disappearing. Their life cycle, single generation per year, egg-laying behavior, slow caterpillar growth, and need for correct food plants at a critical time, makes them vulnerable to habitat disturbance.
The caterpillars eat the tender young leaves of violets (plants in the genus Viola). Apparently, in our region, they specifically prefer the prairie violet, V. pedatifida, a small blue violet with deeply lobed "bird's foot" leaves that grows in tallgrass prairies. In Missouri, the range of this violet species is almost identical to the range of the regal fritillary.
Elsewhere, regal fritillary caterpillars are also reported to eat bird's foot violet, V. pedata, common on Missouri glades as well as upland prairies, but in our state that plant is mostly known from the Ozarks, a region where the regal fritillary does not occur.
Adults are attracted to flowers, especially those of butterfly weed, common milkweed, pale purple coneflower, thistles, and clover.
Formerly nearly statewide. Now confined to our few remaining tallgrass prairie remnants, located mostly in western and northern parts of the state.
Native resident species restricted to native prairie habitats. Vulnerable to extirpation from our state and extinction across its entire North American range. It is a Missouri Species of Conservation Concern and a federal species of conservation concern
Populations are declining in North America and in Missouri. Destruction of high-quality tallgrass prairies is the main reason for the decline. The overall range of this species has been contracting, and Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa seem to be the core remaining territory of what used to be a much larger range.
Not that long ago, the regal fritillary's overall range used to extend all the way to New England and the east coast, north to North Dakota and Minnesota, south to Arkansas and Oklahoma, and west to Colorado, eastern Wyoming, and Montana. Now, east of Indiana, there are only a few populations in Pennsylvania and Virginia and/or North Carolina, with the butterfly being extirpated from all other eastern states. The range seems to be shrinking from all directions. Populations are rapidly declining in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and this butterfly is also critically imperiled in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
The reproductive biology explains much about why this butterfly is facing extirpation and possibly extinction. First, it is single-brooded, with only one opportunity for reproduction a year. If something destroys eggs, caterpillars, or pupae, there are no more chances that year for further breeding.
Males begin emerging from pupation in early June, and females start to emerge a few days later. Males perch on plants and wait for females to fly near. Often, they fly slowly back and forth across prairies in search of emerging females.
Though regal fritillaries mate in early summer, the eggs develop slowly within the female. Regal fritillary mothers do not lay their eggs until late summer or early fall. Females walk through the thick prairie vegetation and deposit eggs singly on various plants, even when the host violets are not near. The eggs hatch in the late summer or fall, but the early-stage caterpillars do not eat; instead, they overwinter in leaf litter.
In spring, the caterpillars come out of hibernation and feed on the tender new leaves of early-spring violets. At this point in the year, the tall, warm-season prairie grasses have not yet grown high enough to shade out the little violet plants. Thus the timing of caterpillar feeding and of their wildflower food plants coincides with the growth cycles of native tallgrass prairies.
The caterpillars grow relatively slowly and enter the chrysalis stage in late spring. The adult males emerge in early summer, then the females, and the cycle begins again.
The unusual timing of egg-laying, hatching, and metamorphosis perfectly fits the cycle of prairie violets, which are only abundant in springtime.
Understanding the regal fritillary's life history explains why prairie management is so critical to the survival of that species. They need native prairie to survive, but that habitat has nearly disappeared from our continent. Meanwhile, it's widely understood that native prairie habitats require occasional fire to stay healthy, but ill-timed burns can easily destroy the eggs, overwintering caterpillars, or young, growing caterpillars of this species.
The regal fritillary is a unique and disappearing part of our native heritage. If you own grassland, manage it so that many kinds of prairie wildlife — including this species — can benefit, and use pesticides sparingly. Finally, don’t let collectors capture them.
The life cycle of the regal fritillary is a beautiful example of how interconnected nature and its timing can be.
Great Places to See Regal Fritillary
Butterflies, skippers, and moths belong to an insect order called the Lepidoptera — the "scale-winged" insects. These living jewels have tiny, overlapping scales that cover their wings like shingles. The scales, whether muted or colorful, seem dusty if they rub off on your fingers. Many butterflies and moths are associated with particular types of food plants, which their caterpillars must eat in order to survive.
