{"id":7532,"date":"2019-08-30T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/?p=7532"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:53:24","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T21:53:24","slug":"cnhps-logo-part-4-royalty-in-decline-the-regal-fritillary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/08\/30\/cnhps-logo-part-4-royalty-in-decline-the-regal-fritillary\/","title":{"rendered":"CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 4: Royalty in Decline, the Regal Fritillary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By: Sierra Crumbaker<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n(Colorado Natural Heritage Program)\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you Google the etymology of \u201cfritillary,\u201d you\u2019ll find\nthat it originates from the Latin <em>fritillus<\/em>,\nmeaning \u201cdice box\u201d or relating to a checkerboard pattern. Take one look at the\nRegal Fritillary (<em>Speyeria idalia<\/em>)\nand you\u2019ll understand why it has earned the name: its large orange wings are\ncovered in a black and white checkered pattern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"423\" src=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/regal-fritillary-tom-cherry-1024x423.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"7534\" data-link=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/?attachment_id=7534\" class=\"wp-image-7534\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/regal-fritillary-tom-cherry-1024x423.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/regal-fritillary-tom-cherry-300x124.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/regal-fritillary-tom-cherry-768x317.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/regal-fritillary-tom-cherry.jpg 1373w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Regal Fritillary (Photo credit: Tom Cherry)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to John Sovell, an invertebrate zoologist and ecologist at CNHP, the Regal Fritillary is considered one of the most spectacular butterfly species due to its distinct color, patterning, and large wingspan (2.9 to 4 inches; the average butterfly wingspan is about one inch).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite its good looks and exceptional pollinating skills,\nthis majestic species is quickly losing ground. Tracked by CNHP, <em>Speyeria idalia<\/em> is rated a G3 S1\nspecies, meaning it is globally vulnerable but critically imperiled in the\nstate of Colorado. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is mainly due to the butterfly\u2019s loss of habitat. As a\nnarrow specialist, the Regal Fritillary depends on undisturbed tallgrass\nprairie with wet and marshy meadows, but a decline in this ecosystem has led to\na 99% decrease in the butterfly\u2019s population. Colorado only represents the\nwestern edge of this species\u2019 distribution, but it has substantially deteriorated\nfrom its former populations in the east as well. Past large colonies of the\nbutterfly are now spread in smaller groups across the prairie. Sovell believes\nthat the Regal Fritillary used to be as characteristic of tallgrass prairie as\nthe bison once were, and much more abundant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there have been numerous individual sightings of <em>Speyeria idalia<\/em>, there is only one known\nbreeding population within Colorado. Despite a career\u2019s worth of summers in the\nfield, Sovell has never seen one. Regal Fritillaries can easily be mistaken for\nthe more common monarch butterfly, meaning it\u2019s possible that people have\nspotted the Fritillary and not realized it. There are also thirteen other\nspecies of <em>Speyeria<\/em> that can be\nconfused with one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re wandering out in Colorado\u2019s beautiful eastern\nprairie and you stumble across what looks like a monarch, you might want to do\na double-take. Who knows? It could be the Regal Fritillary flitting through the\ntall grass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>If you\u2019re interested in learning more about the Regal Fritillary, or Fritillaries in general, these are some great places to start: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.butterfliesandmoths.org\/species\/Speyeria-idalia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><sub>https:\/\/www.butterfliesandmoths.org\/species\/Speyeria-idalia<\/sub><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fs.usda.gov\/wildflowers\/pollinators\/pollinator-of-the-month\/fritillary.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><sub>https:\/\/www.fs.fed.us\/wildflowers\/pollinators\/pollinator-of-the-month\/fritillary.shtml<\/sub><\/a><sub> <\/sub><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/animaldiversity.org\/accounts\/Speyeria_idalia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><sub>https:\/\/animaldiversity.org\/accounts\/Speyeria_idalia\/<\/sub><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"cnhp-display-div wp-block-heading\"><strong>This article is part of mini series  about five species\/things in our logo that embodies the ecology, botany  and zoology work CNHP is committed to. <\/strong> <\/h5>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right cnhp-display-div\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 29%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"944\" src=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2018\/11\/cnhp_c_only_transparent_small.fw_-1024x944.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7224\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<ul class=\"project-page-list wp-block-list\"><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/08\/09\/cnhps-logo-part-1-bat-an-eyelash-blue-grama\/\"><strong>CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 1: Bat an Eyelash, Blue Grama <\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/08\/16\/cnhps-logo-part-2-natures-little-serial-killer-the-loggerhead-shrike\/\"><strong>CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 2: Nature\u2019s Little Serial Killer, the Loggerhead Shrike<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li><li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/08\/23\/cnhps-logo-part-3-payson-lupine-and-silvery-lupine\/\"><strong>CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 3: Payson Lupine and Silvery Lupine <\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/li><li><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/08\/30\/cnhps-logo-part-4-royalty-in-decline-the-regal-fritillary\/\">CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 4: Royalty in Decline, the Regal Fritillary<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/li><li><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/2019\/09\/06\/cnhps-logo-part-5-pinnacle-of-rocky-mountain-national-park-longs-peak\/\">CNHP\u2019s Logo Part 5: Pinnacle of Rocky Mountain National Park, Longs Peak <\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Sierra Crumbaker (Colorado Natural Heritage Program) If you Google the etymology of \u201cfritillary,\u201d you\u2019ll find that it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,72,9,123,73,3,28,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-about-cnhp","category-cnhp","category-cnhp-in-the-news","category-cnhp-logo","category-colorado-natural-heritage-program","category-ecology","category-education","category-pollinators","entry","override"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnhp.colostate.edu\/cnhpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}