Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)
Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)

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Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea didyma)


Photo © Chris van Swaay
FamilyNymphalidae
SubfamilyNymphalinae
GenusMelitaea
Speciesdidyma
Authority(Esper, 1778)
English NameSpotted Fritillary
European Red List 2010Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2010Least Concern (LC)
European Red List 2025Least Concern (LC)
EU 27 Red List 2025Least Concern (LC)
Habitats Directive
Bern Convention
CITES

Description

The Spotted Fritillary can be found on poor grasslands, steppe-like vegetation, and dry, rough vegetation near rocks and on slopes. Further, it is also seen on fallow agricultural land, or at the edges of fields. It uses a wide variety of plants as foodplant, plantains (Plantago spp.), toadflaxes (Linara spp.), speedwells (Veronica spp.), foxgloves (Digitalis spp.), woundworts (Stachys spp.), valerians (Valeriana spp.), and mulleins (Verbascum spp.). The female lays her eggs in clumps on the underside of the leaves, near to the ground. At first, the caterpillars feed communally in a loosely spun shelter, but they separate quite soon, either into smaller groups, or become solitary. The caterpillars hibernate alone, or in small groups, in a spun web. They pupate low down on the foodplant or in the vegetation. The Spotted Fritillary has one to three broods a year, depending on the geographical location and altitude of its breeding ground.

Distribution

Albania / Andorra / Austria / Belarus / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czechia / Estonia (Irregular Vagrant) / France / Database Error: SQLSTATE[HY000] [2002] Operation not permitted