Butterflies of
Britain & Europe
High Brown
Fritillary
Argynnis adippe
LINNAEUS, 1761
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
HELICONIINAE
Tribe - ARGYNNINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Argynnis
adippe, female nectaring at hemp agrimony, Cumbria, England |
Introduction
The
High Brown Fritillary is distributed throughout much of Europe, but
is absent from northern Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean
islands ( except Sicily ).
It can
easily be mistaken for the Dark Green Fritillary, which often shares its
habitats, but the male
of aglaia 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 more reddish brown with noticeably pale outer margins. In both sexes the termen
( outer edge ) of
the forewings is almost straight in aglaia
but is slightly concave in adippe.
The configuration of the black markings is also slightly
different in each species. On the undersides the differences are
more pronounced - the High
Brown Fritillary having an additional row of white-centred reddish spots in the
submarginal area of the hindwings.
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.
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Argynnis adippe, female, Cumbria,
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 mid 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. Consequently the larval foodplants were shaded out and the species was
lost.
This is one of the most
rapidly declining species in Britain. The butterfly has proven incapable of
surviving at the small number of isolated sites which are still actively
coppiced. Its long term viability depends on the existence of
extensive tracts of well drained and lightly wooded habitat where the larval foodplant, dog violet Viola riviniana
grows profusely and in continual supply. Such habitats are now very scarce, so
most of the woodland
colonies have long disappeared, and the butterfly is now largely restricted to a
few small areas of rough scrubby
grassland / woodland mosaics on limestone hills, where periodic cattle grazing, bracken control, and
retention of scrub are vital elements in ensuring it's continued survival.
In
Europe it is much more catholic in it's choice of habitats, occuring
on
scrubby grassland, sparsely vegetated limestone
plateaux, and in sub-alpine meadows and woodland / grassland mosaics. It's choice of larval foodplants is also
wider and includes Viola hirta, V. riviniana
and V. odorata.
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Argynnis adippe, female nectaring at burdock, Cumbria,
England |
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Argynnis adippe, female, Cumbria,
England |
As well as the normal form,
adippe produces a variety
cleodoxa in which the silvery spots
on the underside are replaced with yellow.
Argynnis adippe, male form
cleodoxa, Aggtelek, Hungary
( image
© Peter Bruce-Jones )
Lifecycle
The butterflies emerge in late
June and early July. They lay their pinkish conical eggs singly on
dead bracken fronds, dead
leaves, dry stems or bits of moss, very close to the larval
foodplants. They are normally deposited in sheltered nooks,
in the dappled sunlight beneath bracken, gorse or straggling
patches of low bramble growth. The tiny caterpillars quickly
develop within the eggs, but don't 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, and
feed
diurnally, 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
On cool or slightly overcast days the butterflies bask for long
periods on the ground, choosing small depressions with dead
vegetation, where they are sheltered from wind. If disturbed they
tend to only fly short distances and quickly settle in another
nearby depression.
On
warm sunny days the males patrol rapidly across the habitat in
search of females, pausing every now and then to nectar at
thistle, bramble, heather, knapweed, burdock, hemp agrimony and
other flowers. Females use the same nectar sources, but alternate
between nectaring and ovipositing, typically dropping down to lay
an egg at each of about half a dozen spots within a small area,
and then spending 2 or 3 minutes nectaring at nearby flowers
before repeating the process.
Both sexes roost overnight in trees, on leaf clumps at the tips of
the highest branches. They also fly up to settle in similar
positions during overcast or wet weather. This, together with
their habit of flying amongst grasses and prickly brambles, causes
the wings to become ragged very quickly.
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