Dark Green Fritillary Butterfly

 

Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja (Fr. le Grand nacré) butterfly on the thistle Carduus defloratus (Fr. Chardon à pédoncules nus) in a mountain valley. The thistle is rare and endemic.

The Dark Green Fritillary is a medium large butterfly that gets its name from the patch of olive green on the underside of the hind wing. They are on the wing from June to August and the caterpillars eat violets. It occurs over the whole of mainland France, but these were photographed in July in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

Dark Green Fritillary butterfly Argynnis aglaja (Fr. le Grand nacré) nectaring on Scabious sp in a mountain valley.

The thistle Carduus defloratus is restricted to alpine areas and flowers in the summer.