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Text and photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007, and must not be published in part or in whole elsewhere without prior written permission from the author.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
 
Heath Fritillary
Mellicta athalia ROTTEMBURG, 1775
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily - NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - MELITAEINI
subtribe - EUPHYDRYINA
 
 introduction | habitats | lifecycle | adult behaviour
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, male on sweet chestnut, Kent, England
 
Introduction
 
The Heath Fritillary is a common and widespread species found throughout continental Europe including northern Scandinavia, but is absent from the southern Iberian peninsula and the Mediterranean islands. It's range also extends eastward across temperate Asia to Japan. In Britain it is a scarce and localised species confined to a few of the southern counties.
 
It cannot be confused with any other British species, except perhaps the Glanville Fritillary, which only occurs on the Isle of Wight and the Hampshire coast - areas from which the Heath Fritillary is absent.
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, male, Essex, England
 
In Europe and temperate Asia there are a large number of other species with which the Heath Fritillary can be confused. These include at least 6 other members of the genus Mellicta, and several members of the allied Melitaea. The differences between some of the species are so minor that it takes a very experienced eye to tell them apart, and the use of a well illustrated field guide is essential.
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, female, Kent, England
 
Habitats
 
In Europe the butterfly can be found in a wide range of habitats including woodland, hay meadows, sub-alpine pastures, scrubby grassland and roadside verges.
 
In Britain it is at the edge of it's range, and is restricted to a very limited range of habitats. It was formerly widespread in southern counties of England, and was once abundant in Killarney, Ireland, but loss of habitat, and possibly other factors including climate and parasitism, led to it's decline. Now, in the first decade of the 21st century, it is restricted to just a handful of sites in Kent, Devon and Cornwall, and to a few sites in Essex where it was re-introduced as part of a conservation program.
 
In Kent and Essex the butterflies are confined to a complex of small to medium sized woodlands which are managed as sweet chestnut coppice, with a fairly open canopy of oaks. Here the butterflies breed in small temporary clearings, where the parasitic herb cow wheat, which is the foodplant of the caterpillars, grows profusely.
 
An unpublished survey of north Kent in June / July 2007 by Hoskins and Meredith found that the species is present in almost all of the woodlands north and west of Canterbury. A total of 13 separate colonies were located, each comprising between 10 - 60 adults per day during peak flight season.
 
The sites on Exmoor in Devon are entirely different in nature - sheltered hillsides and lightly wooded valley bottoms where the foodplant grows amidst bracken or heather.
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, female at rest on grass stem, Essex, England
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, male basking on bracken, Kent, England
 
Lifecycle
 
The Heath Fritillary is single brooded in Britain and northern Europe, but double brooded in Spain, Portugal, southern France and Italy.
 
In Britain the adults emerge in late May / early June ( Devon ), or in mid-late June ( Kent and Essex ).
 
The females lay their eggs in large untidy batches on the underside of bramble, foxglove or other large leaves low on the ground. Sometimes they lay under dead fallen leaves of sweet chestnut, in the vicinity of the larval foodplants, but rarely on the foodplants themselves.
 
The eggs, which are yellow at first, but later turn greyish, hatch after about 10 days.
 
The young caterpillars spin thin silk webs over the leaves of the foodplants, and bask on these in groups of about a dozen or so. They enter hibernation in September when still small, spending the winter clustered together on dead leaves on the ground. In March they awaken, and resume feeding on the leaves of cow wheat Melampyrum pratense, sometimes supplemented by germander speedwell Veronica chamaedrys or foxglove Digitalis purpurea. In Cornwall the foodplant is usually plantain Plantago lanceolata.
 
The older larvae, which live solitarily, are quite distinctive, with black bodies and rows of short white and yellow spikes along the back and sides. They become full grown in early May, when they feed and bask openly on the upper surface of leaves of the foodplants.
 
The chrysalis, which is formed amongst dead leaves and twigs on the ground, is white, decorated with numerous small black and yellow spots. The pupal stage is short, usually only about 8 - 12 days.
 
Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, copulating pair, Essex, England
 
Adult behaviour

 

Adults are usually found flying in groups of between 10 - 100, in isolated pockets within their habitats. Sometimes when breeding sites are well managed and climatic conditions are suitable, much larger populations can arise, comprising of several hundred individuals.

 

Males patrol lazily about the habitats searching for freshly emerged females. Copulation takes place in late morning. I have found mated pairs on several occasions, often sitting in exposed positions on bramble flowers or on the terminal leaves of low growing plants. The pheromones emanated by the females appear to be quite powerful, often attracting several additional males, which gather around the copulated pair, trying to force themselves on the female.

 

Heath Fritillaries Mellicta athalia, Essex, England

 

Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, male at roost on red clover, Kent, England

 

The butterflies will nectar at various flowers including bugle, heather, lesser stitchwort, and buttercups, but show a strong preference for hawkbit and bramble blossom. Females often feed avidly for several minutes at a time, but males tend to flit more frequently from flower to flower. On several occasions I have found adults in the grip of crab spiders Misumena vatia, which lie in ambush on the bramble flowers.

 

Even in warm sunny conditions the butterflies are decidedly lethargic, and rarely attempt to fly more than 2 or 3 metres at a time. They spend long periods resting with wings closed on the foliage of  sweet chestnut, bramble or oak saplings. In hazy or lightly overcast conditions both sexes will bask on low foliage. It is very common to find 2 or 3 Heath Fritillaries basking side by side on bramble or sweet chestnut leaves.

 

Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, males basking on bramble leaves, Essex, England

 

Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, male at roost on soft rush, Kent, England

 

Small groups of adults can be found at dusk on dry days, roosting on sedges, rushes, or on the terminal foliage of low-growing herbs. I have also found them roosting on grass-heads, red clover, bracken fronds, or amongst the foliage of coppiced sweet chestnut.

 

Heath Fritillary Mellicta athalia, at roost on jointed rush, Kent, England

 

                                                       
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 photographs protected by Copyright © Adrian Hoskins 2007-2008, 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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