Great British Lepidoptera

High Brown Fritillary

(Argynnis Adippe)

The High brown fritillary, a large, powerful flying butterfly, has been a fast declining species here in Great Britain and is now increasingly rare. Since the 1970s, the butterfly has declined by 90-94%, widely due to the destruction of its traditional moor and woodland edge habitat. Despite its decline, the Fritillary has maintained a stronghold in the county of Devon, although even here, only a handful of breeding sites are known. Nevertheless, the butterfly can still be seen flying over the tops of bracken covered slopes and low vegetation in woodland clearings during the summer months. 

Other habitat types include: dry clearings, steep slopes 

In flight, the male butterflies are very similar looking to the more widespread Dark Green Fritillary, which are often found in the same habitat. When paused at a nectar source, these two species can be told apart by their distinctive underwing markings.