Argynnis hydaspe viridicornis
Greenhorn Mountains Hydaspe Fritillary
This distinctive fritillary is best known from the type locality, the Greenhorn Mountains, but it is now understood to range into northern California. It flies in June and July, and there really is no mistaking it for anything else. I've seen it as Shirley Meadows and Lloyd Meadow; it seems to have an particular attraction to mint flowers.
A nice, fresh Argynnis hydaspe viridicornis taking nectar on roadside mint posed for plenty of photos for me on July 9, 2017; the two below are this same butterfly.
Same; this was along Hwy. 155 in Alta Sierra, not far from the turn to Shirley Meadows, a classic location for these.
The underside of Argynnis hydaspe viridicornis is distinctive. Then again, both sides have a rich, dark aspect that sets them apart.
I believe this was my first shot of Argynnis hydaspe viridicornis, from its classic location at Shirley Meadows in the Greenhorns from July 20, 2012.
From further north at Lloyd Meadow later on the same day as the one just above: a fresher Hydaspe fritillary.
John A. Comstock named this butterfly in 1925, in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences.
©Dennis Walker
