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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.
Butterflies of Britain & Europe
 
High Brown Fritillary
Argynnis adippe LINNAEUS, 1761
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ARGYNNINI
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Argynnis adippe, male, Cumbria, England
 
Introduction
 
The High Brown Fritillary is distributed throughout much of mainland Europe, but absent from northern Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean islands ( except Sicily ).
 
The butterfly can easily be mistaken for the Dark Green Fritillary, but differs in that the male of that species lacks the conspicuous black sex brands which run along veins 2 and 3 of the forewing of adippe. The ground colour of female High Brown Fritillaries is golden, whereas in females of aglaia it is a dull reddish brown, with pale outer margins. When the undersides are seen the differences between the two species are even more apparent - the High Brown Fritillary having an additional row of white-centred reddish spots in the submarginal area of the hindwings.
 
Both species often fly in the same habitat, but either one species or the other will tend to predominate at any particular site.
 
In Europe the butterfly can be confused with the Niobe Fritillary Argynnis niobe, but the latter is smaller and has more chevron-like lunules on the underside.
 
Argynnis adippe, female, Lancashire, England
 
Habitats
 
The High Brown Fritillary was formerly very widespread in Britain, occurring commonly in most of the larger woodlands in southern England and Wales, but becoming scarcer in the northern counties. During the middle of the 20th century the butterfly declined very rapidly due primarily to habitat loss. The coppiced woodlands where it once bred became neglected and overgrown, or were converted to plantations of oak, beech or conifers, which shaded out the larval foodplants and created an environment which was too dark and cool to support the species.
 
The butterfly requires extensive tracts of suitable habitat where the larval foodplant, dog violet Viola riviniana, grows profusely and in continual supply. Such habitats are now very scarce. Consequently the butterfly has dramatically reduced it's range, which has now contracted to a few isolated sites in the west of Britain. Most of the woodland colonies have long disappeared, and the butterfly now breeds mainly in scrubby rough grasslands on calcareous soils, where periodic grazing, bracken control, and retention of scrub are vital elements in ensuring it's continued survival.
 
In mainland Europe, it is more catholic in it's choice of habitats, which include scrubby grassland, woodland / grassland mosaics, sparsely vegetated limestone plateaux, and sub-alpine meadows. It's choice of larval foodplants is also wider, and includes Viola hirta, V. riviniana and V. odorata.
 
Lifecycle
 
The butterflies emerge in late June and early July. They lay their pinkish conical eggs singly on dead bracken fronds, dead leaves or dry stems, in the dappled sunlight beneath bracken, gorse or bramble bushes. The tiny caterpillars quickly develop within the eggs, but do not hatch until March of the following year.
 
The fully grown caterpillars are dark brown, with a white stripe along the back, and are adorned with rows of brown or pinkish spikes along the back and sides. They live singly, wandering from one violet plant to another, feeding diurnally, and periodically retiring to rest beneath dead leaves.
 
The dark brown, shiny chrysalis resembles a withered leaf, and is virtually impossible to locate in the wild. In captivity it is formed attached by the cremaster to a silk pad spun on twigs or stems, and in the wild it is probably suspended from twigs or woody stems beneath bushes. The pupal stage lasts for about 3 weeks.
 
Adult behaviour

 

The butterflies fly rapidly in warm sunshine, settling briefly with wings either open or closed, on thistle or bramble flowers. Both sexes commonly bask on little patches of bare ground, sheltered by tall but sparse grasses. They roost overnight amongst foliage high in oak trees.

 
                                                       
Almost every British and European species of butterfly is declining rapidly in numbers, due in most cases to loss or degradation of habitats.
 
You can help to reverse the decline by supporting conservation organisations which purchase and manage habitats as nature reserves, and which lobby government at local, national and international levels, often very successfully, to bring about changes in farming, forestry and urban development policies.
 
Please contact the conservation organisations for advice on how you can help protect British and European butterflies and their habitats. You may be able to offer practical help e.g. by monitoring butterfly populations or helping to manage nature reserves. Donations to these organisations enable them to employ ecologists and biologists. Even if you are unable to provide such help, merely having your name on the membership list can be a powerful tool for conservation organisations wishing to demonstrate the levels of support they have for their policies.

 

 
Text and images protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, ( unless stated otherwise ) and must not be reproduced or published in part or in whole elsewhere in any form without written permission from Adrian Hoskins. Breach of copyright will be pursued by litigation.
 
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