Euphydryas cynthia
Introduction '''''Euphydryas cynthia''''', or '''Cynthia's fritillary''', is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Alps and in mountainous areas of Bulgaria inalpine meadows from 400 to 2,300 meters.
Description The wingspan is 32–42 mm. It has an orange and brown checkered upperside pattern separated by the veins and organized in lines. ''Euphydryas cynthia'' is sexually dimorphic: the male has white checkerboards  in the basal and discal areas of the wing whereas the female is all checkered orange. The reverse is orange with light checkerboards, anterior and posterior in the male, only towards the posterior in the female whose anterior area is checkered more or less dark. On the upperside  and the underside of the female the orange checkers of the postdiscal band are centered by a black dot.The form ''Euphydryas cynthia alpicola'' is small and presents a black suffusion on the front, the forms ''Euphydryas cynthia drenovskii'' and ''Euphydryas cynthia leonardi'' , are larger and more colourful.Euphydryas cynthia MHNT CUT 2013 3 28 Col de Granon male dorsal.jpg|Male dorsal viewEuphydryas cynthia MHNT CUT 2013 3 28 Col de Granon male ventral.jpg|Male undersideEuphydryas cynthia MHNT CUT 2013 3 28 Col du Lautaret female dorsal.jpg|Female dorsal viewEuphydryas cynthia MHNT CUT 2013 3 28 Col du Lautaret female ventral.jpg|Female underside(MHNT) Euphydryas cynthia alpicola - Thyon 2000m - Valais Suisse - male dorsal.jpg|''Euphydryas cynthia alpicola''-  Male  (MHNT) Euphydryas cynthia alpicola - Thyon 2000m - Valais Suisse - male ventral.jpg|''Euphydryas cynthia alpicola''-  Male △   (MHNT) Euphydryas cynthia alpicola - Moiry 2000m - Valais Suisse - female dorsal.jpg|''Euphydryas cynthia alpicola''-   Female(MHNT) Euphydryas cynthia alpicola - Moiry 2000m - Valais Suisse - female ventral.jpg|''Euphydryas cynthia alpicola''-   Feamle △
Biology The larvae feed on ''Plantago'' species, including ''P. alpina'', and ''Alchemilla'' species. Larvae and pupae also contain three iridoid glucosides: aucubin, catalpa, and 6-O-glucopyranosylaucubin. Small amounts of these molecules have been found to make the larvae unpalatable to insect-eating predators--which may contribute to survival. It winters as a caterpillar. Development requires two seasons. It flies in a single generation from late June to early August.
Taxonomy ''E.cynthia'' is in the subgenus '''''Hypodryas''''' The clade members are* ''Euphydryas maturna'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Euphydryas intermedia'' =''Euphydryas ichnea'' (Boisduval, 1833)* ''Euphydryas cynthia'' (Schiffermüller, 1775) * ''Euphydryas iduna'' (Dalman, 1816) * ''Euphydryas gillettii'' (Barnes, 1897)
References
External links * Species info