The Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Nymphalidae family of North America. It is common from northern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and west Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, and western South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

.
This butterfly is dark orange coloured with distinct black bars and dots in a zig-zag pattern on the topside. The wing margins are dark with lighter circles then dark crescents. Silvery spots predominate on the yellowish underside.

Wingspan ranges from 38–61 mm (1.5–2.4 in).

Larva feed on Viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

sp.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.

• S. m. arge (Strecker, 1878)
• S. m. artonis (Edwards, 1881)
• S. m. bischoffii (Edwards, 1870)
• S. m. erinna (Edwards, 1883)
• S. m. eurynome (Edwards, 1872)
• S. m. luski (Barnes & McDunnough, 1913)
• S. m. opis (Edwards, 1874)
• S. m. washingtonia (Barnes & McDunnough, 1913)