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Subspecies Speyeria cybele leto

Fritillary - Speyeria cybele - male Great Spangled Fritillary - Speyeria cybele - male Orange and black butterfly - Speyeria cybele - male Great Spangled Fritillary  - Speyeria cybele Great Spangled Fritillary  - Speyeria cybele - male Great Spangled Fritillary - Speyeria cybele - female Speyeria image 6661 - Speyeria cybele - male Butterfly ID? - Speyeria cybele - female
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Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies (excluding skippers))
Family Nymphalidae (Brushfooted Butterflies)
Subfamily Heliconiinae (Heliconians and Fritillaries)
Tribe Argynnini (Fritillaries)
Genus Speyeria (Greater Fritillaries)
Species cybele (Great Spangled Fritillary - Hodges#4450)
Subspecies leto (Speyeria cybele leto)
As compared to eastern subspecies, these tend to have smaller silver spots below, dark wings above (toward the base in males, and most of the wing in females). Females often have pale or even bluish coloring where the orange should be above.
Inland. Mountains of California (Sierra Nevada), north into s. British Columbia, sw. Alberta w. Montana,
The subspecies named letona, charlottii, pugetensis, and eileenae are all very similar, and some authors separate them out as a distinct species under the name of Speyeria leto. However, these intergrade with other subspecies of S. cybele where they meet east and southeastward. They show some differences in pattern, with subspecies near the coast tending to have a narrower submarginal pale band below, but they are best distinguished from one another by where they are found.
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