This is one of 4 closely related
species. They can all be easily distinguished except pales and napaea.
See those species to distinguish between them. Study of the following
table will help correctly identify graeca and aquilonaris
from both pales/ napaea.
Balkan Fritillary,
B. graeca
Cranberry Fritillary, B. aquilonaris
Shepherd's Fritillary, B. pales
Mountain Fritillary, B. napaea
Range
SE Europe, SE France
N Switzerland and N &
E to all Scandinavia and Poland.
Alps, E Pyrenees,
mountains of Norway, Sweden, Finland
Range overlaps
aquilonaris - never
pales - SE France,
FYROM
napaea - SE France
graeca - never
pales/ napaea
- maybe a small band of central Switzerland
napaea - Alps, E
Pyrenees
pales - Alps, E Pyrenees
Underside forewing black
spots
bold
bold
faint
faint (one or two post
discal spots may be bolder)
Underside hindwing post
discal spots
all spots form rings
mostly solid spots with a
distinct ring only in space 3
See
pales/ napaea for information on how to separate
these two species
Overall coloration
ups orange
uns yellowy and bright
ups reddish
uns reddish and dark
It flies in Greece and countries bordering to the
north plus in a small area of SE France and bordering mountains of
Italy.I've found it fairly
widespread in northern Greece but only a single specimen in the
mountains of NW Italy. This is an area where its very close relatives pales
and napaea are common and widespread. In my butterfly the
presence of the underside forewing black spots and the underside
hindwing rings clearly indicated graeca.
