Knapweed Fritillary
CR

Knapweed Fritillary

Melitaea phoebe

UnknownLCEULCEU

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

Overview

Melitaea phoebe, also known as the knapweed fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, including most of Europe and North Africa, excluding the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Previously, it also included Melitaea telona, which was recently revalidated as a distinct cryptic species.

The Knapweed Fritillary faces severe population declines primarily due to habitat loss and degradation of its specialized grassland ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, urbanization, and changes in land management practices have eliminated much of the species' required habitat containing its host plants. Climate change and habitat fragmentation further threaten the remaining isolated populations.

Threat summary

Habitat

M. phoebe is present throughout Europe except for the northern regions such as England, Ireland, Northern France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Belgium and Scandinavia. It can also be found in North Africa: Morocco and Algeria, Turkey, Siberia, and Central Asia in Mongolia and northern China included.

M. phoebe inhabits flowery meadows and plains, but may just also be found in stonier places such as...

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 Knapweed Fritillary classified as Critically Endangered?
Knapweed 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 Knapweed Fritillary faces severe population declines primarily due to habitat loss and degradation of its specialized grassland ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, urbanization, and changes in land management practices have eliminated much of the species' required habitat containing its host plants. Climate change and habitat fragmentation further threaten the remaining isolated populations.
Where does Knapweed Fritillary live?
Knapweed 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 Knapweed Fritillary?
The main threats to Knapweed 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.

Get weekly conservation intelligence

One short digest a week of the most striking species and country data we ship, plus breaking conservation news paired with our database where it matters.

Free, no spam. One-click unsubscribe in every email.