The Marsh Fritillary, Euphydryas aurinia, is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South. E. aurinia is represented by many subspecies. The most widely accepted are:
- E. a. aurinia Central Europe, Southern Europe, West Siberia
- E. a. bulgarica (Fruhstorfer, 1916) Carpathian Mountains
- E. a. laeta (Christoph, 1893) Central Siberia, Altai, Sayan, Transbaikal
- E. a. beckeri (Lederer, 1853) Morocco (Middle Atlas, Rif Mountains)
- E. a. barraguei (Betz, 1956) Algeria
but the total number of described subspecies is much higher especially in the Eastern Palaearctic. The insect may be best considered a superspecies.
The larvae are recorded as feeding on Succisa pratensis and species of Digitalis, Plantago,Veronica (V.dubravnaya, etc.), Geranium,Sambucus, Gentiana, Valeriana, Lonicera, Filipendula, Spiraea and Viburnum.
Read more about Marsh Fritillary: The Marsh Fritillary in The British Isles, Habitats, Food Plants, Life Cycle, Metapopulations, Management, Monitoring and Indicators of Success, Example Sites