Spotted Fritillary
CR

Spotted Fritillary

Melitaea didyma

UnknownLCEULCEU

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

Overview

A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.

The Spotted Fritillary faces severe population declines across its range due to widespread habitat loss and degradation of traditional grassland ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, urbanization, and changes in land management practices have eliminated much of the species' preferred habitat, while climate change is altering the distribution and phenology of both the butterfly and its host plants.

Threat summary

Habitat

Dry grasslands, meadows, scrubland, and open woodland clearings, typically on calcareous soils and sunny slopes up to 2000m elevation. The species requires areas with abundant host plants from the Plantaginaceae and Scrophulariaceae families, particularly in traditionally managed pastoral landscapes.

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 Spotted Fritillary classified as Critically Endangered?
Spotted 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 Spotted Fritillary faces severe population declines across its range due to widespread habitat loss and degradation of traditional grassland ecosystems. Agricultural intensification, urbanization, and changes in land management practices have eliminated much of the species' preferred habitat, while climate change is altering the distribution and phenology of both the butterfly and its host plants.
Where does Spotted Fritillary live?
Spotted 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 Spotted Fritillary?
The main threats to Spotted 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.