| Family | Nymphalidae |
|---|---|
| Subfamily | Heliconiinae |
| Genus | Issoria |
| Species | lathonia |
| Authority | (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| English Name | Queen of Spain Fritillary |
| European Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
|---|---|
| EU 27 Red List 2010 | Least Concern (LC) |
| European Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| EU 27 Red List 2025 | Least Concern (LC) |
| Habitats Directive | |
| Bern Convention | |
| CITES |
The large, silver-white mirrors on the underside of the hindwings, distinguish the Queen of Spain Fritillary from other fritillaries. The butterflies of the first brood that emerge at the end of the spring are quite small, but those of summer broods are often bigger. They can be found on a wide range of dry, flower-rich grasslands, wasteland and fields. The female deposits her eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of violets (Viola spp.) on which the caterpillars later feed. On this nutritious diet the caterpillars grow very quickly, pupating low down in the vegetation. The Queen of Spain Fritillary has two to four generations a year, depending on the altitude and geographical position of the habitat. Hibernation takes place in the larval stage in temperate areas, but probably it can overwinter in other stages as well.
Albania / Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Belgium / Belgium: Flanders / Belgium: Wallonia / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Cyprus (Irregular Vagrant) / Czechia / Denmark / Estonia / Finland / France / France: Mainland / France: Corsica / Germany / Greece / Greece: Mainland / Greece: East Aegean Islands / Hungary / Italy / Italy: Mainland / Italy: Sardinia / Italy: Sicily / Latvia / Liechtenstein (Regular Migrant) / Lithuania / Luxembourg / North Macedonia / Moldova / Montenegro / Netherlands / Norway / Poland / Portugal / Portugal: Mainland / Portugal: Madeira Islands / Romania / European Russia / San Marino / Serbia / Serbia: Serbia / Serbia: Kosovo / Slovakia / Slovenia / Spain / Spain: Mainland / Spain: Canary Islands (Irregular Vagrant) / Spain: Balearic Islands / Spain: Sp. North African Territories / Sweden / Switzerland / European Türkiye / Ukraine / United Kingdom (Irregular Vagrant) / United Kingdom: Great Britain (Irregular Vagrant) / United Kingdom: Guernsey (Irregular Vagrant) / United Kingdom: Jersey (Irregular Vagrant) /