Reasonably common across France, and commonly found at altitude, often in good numbers. The upperside can be differentiated from the High Brown Fritillary (A. adippe) by the indicators described on the adippe page.

The upperside can be differentiated from the Niobe Fritillary (A. niobe) by the rather heavier submarginal marks on both upf and unh of aglaja compared to niobe.

The undersides of each of the three species are quite different and easily distinguishable.

In some textbooks aglaja is spelt aglaia.

In 2019 this species was reclassified as Speyeria aglaja. I'll give it a few years before changing the web page (and all the occurrences and links associated) as it is entirely possible that the taxonomists will change it again. Also Argynnis aglaja is in common use and often used in web searches, etc.

observations

a male puddling, the forewings held back in a pose that seems normal for aglaja when puddling. The orange seems rather dull compared to others on this page, but it is not clear whether this is natural or just the result of wear.

a male, based on the lighter markings, the albeit quite light sex brands on v2 and v3, and the just-visible body. Not 100% certain, though.

a female as indicated by the heavier markings and confirmed by the absence of sex brands.

an old photograph of a very heavily marked and suffused female. It actually looked like this in real life. I have seen females like this on a few subsequent occasions.