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GREAT SPANGLED FRITILLARY (Speyeria cybele)
BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES (family Nymphalidae) make up a very diverse group, inluding some of our most common and well-known butterfies.Now included within this family are several very distinct groups that were formerly treated as seperate fafilies. All are similar in having their front pair of legs strongly reduced and overed with hort bristles, hence the name "brush-footed". Since these front legs are seldom visible, these butterflies often look four-legged, but few generalizations are possibleA fast fluing butterfly of open meadows and woodlands. The adult feeds on the nectar of milkweeds and thistles.