I first noticed these butterflies in my yard last summer and the tiny markings on the blue color in their wings caught my eye. The markings look exactly like tiny hearts to me (click to enlarge photos to see). I always have tons of black, pipevine, and spicebush swallowtails, but these particular black butterflies always stand out to me.
According to my Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America, this is the elusive female Diana Fritillary, and it is much sought after by butterfly watchers. It is a very large and spectacular butterfly, found only in openings and fields in rich moist woodlands, only in the southern Appalachians and southern Ozark region. According to my field guide, they apparantly gain protection from predators by mimicking the distasteful (who knew?) Pipevine Swallowtail, which we also have in abundance here. I have seen many of these butterflies here, sometimes as many as 4 at a time. In my yard, they prefer the dianthus flowers, zinnias, pentas, marigolds, and the white butterfly bush. Their larval foodplant is violets.
Here are a few photos of the female Diana Fritillary, click to view larger versions.
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Female Diana Fritillary – Click to enlarge
Nectaring on dianthus flowers, and two female Diana Fritillaries on butterfly bush
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Here are some photos of the orange and brown male Diana Fritillary, also very pretty but not quite as striking as the females.
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Male Diana Fritillary on marigold
Side view of wings, male Diana on dianthus flowers
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I purchased my Kaufman guide at the recommendation of Troy from Ramblings Around Texas. He recommended this field guide in a recent post he made along with some gorgeous photographs of Butterflies. Thanks, Troy. I couldn’t be more pleased with this book. It is a great resource and I’m enjoying it. Maybe now I can finally get the butterfly names right. :)
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Great Butterfly. One that we don’t have on our list.
Thanks for sharing the story, information and great photographs.
I’m glad you like the book. We probably have 20-30 field guides (some specialized and some with restricted ranges). We always reach for the Kaufman guide first.
Jim Brock, who is the principle author of the book, is a really nice guy. We see them both at the Butterfly Festival in Mission Texas in October.
Thanks for the call-out.
Troy and Martha
That is indeed quite a butterly. I’m amazed at how different the male and female look. The blue is so striking. I LOVE the bottom left smaller picture.
You’re welcome, Troy. As I said, I’m really enjoying the book. I like the layout of it much more than other guides I’ve had. Thanks again for the recommendation.
Hi Louise, they do look so different don’t they? I had to look closely to be sure it was truly the male Diana I was seeing — they look similar to other orange and brown fritillaries in flight. Pretty, but not as pretty as the females.
Thanks to both of you for visiting.
Oh my this is surely a beautiful butterfly!! I do see a marking that looks like hearts on the female.
I’m glad you can see the hearts, Leeann.. lol They do look like tiny little hearts on that strip of blue on their wings. They really are pretty. Thanks for your comments.
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Saw a female May 18 on the rocks above the Potomac River at Great Falls Maryland. Unmistakable. Most sites say the species is extinct in Eastern Virginia. But this is right across the Potomac, 15 miles above DC.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Yes, they are definitely unmistakeable. I have read that they are extinct in some areas and very few in number in others. We seem to have quite a few of them every summer — I’m always thrilled to see them. Thanks for stopping by.
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My new mission. Find a Diana Fritillary. Beautiful photos. Thank you.