BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Boloria alberta
Albert's Fritillary
| Scientific Name: | Boloria alberta (Edwards, 1890) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Clossiana alberta
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| English Name: | Albert's Fritillary | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | SName changed from Clossiana alberta to Boloria alberta to align with NatureServe (Feb 22, 2005 - DW). | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-BOLALB | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G3 (Mar 2020) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S3 (Jan 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Blue | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Subspecies Comments: | There are no recognized subspecies of Boloria alberta. Type locality is in the vicinity of Lake Louise, AB at Laggan (Guppy and Shepard 2001). | ||||||||||
| Identification Comments: | Boloria alberta has a wingspan of 3.8 - 4.5 cm. The overall appearance of the butterfly is described as melanic and greasy (Guppy and Shepard 2001). The females have smoky brown ventral forewing colouration, with hindwing colouration a more smoky orange. The males have ventral wing surfaces that are an overall smoky orange. Both the males and females have black and grey markings with blurred edges (Opler et al. 1995). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Reproduction Comments: | Boloria alberta takes two years to complete its life cycle. Some populations are known to occur in even-numbered or odd-numbered years (Layberry et al. 1998; Guppy and Shepard 2001). This biological limitation may affect the interpretation of population assessments. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / Y N / N N / N na / N |
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| Provincial Mobility & Migration Comments: | It is thought this species is a relict from the last glacial ice age, and following glacial retreat the species remained in refugia, as its restricted distribution is in high alpine areas that are typically surrounded by ice (Layberry et al. 1998). It doesn't appear to move extensive distances. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Alpine/Tundra / Tundra / Obligate
Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Rock/Sparsely Vegetated Rock / Obligate |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Alpine ridges, tundra, and windswept scree slopes. Larval host is probably Mountain avens (Dryas octopetala) (Layberry et al.,1998). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Habitat Comments: | Boloria alberta has been reported from alpine areas, steep rock and scree slopes, windswept ridges (Opler et al. 1995), and habitat that is in high and inaccessible areas. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore:Immature
Nectarivore: Adult |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Adults are reported to lay eggs and to be associated with Mountain avens (Dryas octopetala) (Layberry et al. 1998). Adult Food: Flower nectar (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Food Habits Comments: | Boloria alberta is thought to use alpine avens (Dryas octopetala) as its larval food source (Opler et al. 1995). The adults use flower nectar (Opler et al. 1995), although food plant specificity is unknown. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology Comments: | Adults have a single flight during July and early August in even-numbered years. Like other alpine Boloria, eggs are laid on or near the caterpillar host plant, hatch after about a week, and the caterpillars require two years to complete development. | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
July: Active /
Aug: Active / |
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| Provincial Phenology Comments: | Boloria alberta is known to have a very short flight season, between July and early August (Layberry et al. 1998). The immature life stages are undescribed (Layberry et al. 1998; Guppy and Shepard 2001). | ||||||||||
| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This species occurs ion the east side of the Rocky Mountains along the border of British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, south to northwestern Montana, USA (Glacier National Park) (Layberry et al. 1998, Opler 1999, Brock and Kaufman 2003). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Opler, P.A. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Nov 12, 2000 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | Heron, Jennifer | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jun 06, 2005 | ||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Bird, C.D., G.I. Hilchie, N.G. Kondla, E.M. Pike, and F.A.H. Sperling. 1995. Alberta Butterflies. The Provincial Museum of Alberta: Edmonton, Alberta. 349 pp. |
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Guppy, C.S., and J.H. Shepard. 2001. Butterflies of British Columbia. UBC Press in collaboration with Royal B.C. Mus. 414pp. |
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Layberry, R. A., P. W. Hall, and J. D. LaFontaine. 1998. The butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press. 280pp. + color plates. |
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Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall, and J.D. LaFontaine. 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, Canada. 280 pp. + color plates. |
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Opler, P. A., and A. D. Warren. 2002. Butterflies of North America. 2. Scientific Names List for Butterfly Species of North America, north of Mexico. C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 79 pp. |
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Opler, P. A., H. Pavulaan, and R. E. Stanford. 2000. August 17-last update. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. Online. Available: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepi d/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm. |
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Opler, P.A., H. Pavulaan, and R.E. Stanford. 1995. Butterflies of North America. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page: Version Dec. 12, 2003. Online. Available: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm |
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Scott, J. A. 1986. The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA. 583 pp. |
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Stanford, R. E. and P. A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of western U.S.A. butterflies, including adjacent parts of Canada and Mexico. Self-published, Denver, CO. 265 pp. |
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Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network (SCAN). 2020. A data portal built to visualize, manipulate, and export species occurrences. Online: http://scan-bugs.org/portal/index.php |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2000. Species Summary: Boloria alberta. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).