High Brown Fritillary
CR

High Brown Fritillary

Fabriciana adippe

Unknown

Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_brown_fritillary

Overview

Fabriciana adippe, the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is listed as a vulnerable species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Like other fritillaries it is dependent on warm climates with violet-rich flora.

The High Brown Fritillary has experienced severe population declines across its range due to habitat loss and degradation, particularly the loss of traditional woodland management practices that maintained the warm, sheltered clearings this species requires. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have further reduced suitable breeding sites, while the abandonment of coppicing and other woodland management has led to increased canopy closure that eliminates the sun-dappled conditions needed by both the butterfly and its violet host plants.

Threat summary

Habitat

This butterfly has many subspecies that span across Europe and throughout Asia and Africa, given that there are temperate temperatures in those regions. Northern Europe has seen a severe decline in fritillary population but it is still relatively abundant in other parts of Europe.

As of 2015, the high brown fritillary was the most threatened British butterfly species. Populations remain in four...

Other threatened species in Nymphalidae

Scarce FritillaryCR

Scarce Fritillary

Euphydryas maturna

Unknown
EN

Altopedaliodes albonotata

Unknown
Two-tailed PashaVU

Two-tailed Pasha

Charaxes jasius

Unknown
False GraylingVU

False Grayling

Arethusana arethusa

Unknown

Frequently asked questions

Why is High Brown Fritillary classified as Critically Endangered?
High Brown Fritillary is classified as Critically Endangered — facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild — because population sizes are very small, declining sharply, or restricted to a tiny range. The High Brown Fritillary has experienced severe population declines across its range due to habitat loss and degradation, particularly the loss of traditional woodland management practices that maintained the warm, sheltered clearings this species requires. Climate change and habitat fragmentation have further reduced suitable breeding sites, while the abandonment of coppicing and other woodland management has led to increased canopy closure that eliminates the sun-dappled conditions needed by both the butterfly and its violet host plants.
Where does High Brown Fritillary live?
High Brown Fritillary occurs in across multiple regions. Country-level distribution data is sourced from the IUCN Red List and cross-referenced with GBIF occurrences.
What are the main threats to High Brown Fritillary?
The main threats to High Brown Fritillary are ai-1, ai-2, ai-3, and ai-4. The full IUCN-classified threat record for this species is detailed on the species page.

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