The Butterflies of Gloucestershire

High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe
	9 July 1988	9 July 1988

Habitat

The High Brown Fritillary needs open woodland or scrubby grassland habitat, using Common Dog-violet Viola riviniana as its larval foodplant. The larvae need very warm conditions at ground level, and suitable British sites have become progressively scarcer during the 20^th century.

Conservation Issues

Loss of habitat through changes in management and land use have already caused a serious reduction in its national distribution. Active conservation management is necessary to halt the decline and restore suitable habitat where possible, in order to prevent local extinctions. Isolated colonies are particularly vulnerable.

Numbers reported at the remaining colony in our area have been very low, and its survival into 2000 is uncertain.

Flight Period
High Brown Fritillary adults are seen in July.

Distribution
There has only been one known colony in the area for many years, and although there have been a few records from other places, some of these are almost certainly optimistic misidentifications of Dark Green Fritillary, which is on the wing at the same time and sometimes found in similar habitat to the High Brown.
Attempted introductions have probably been made by enthusiasts. This seems the most likely explanation when several specimens of such a scarce species are found in one season far from any known colony, and not seen in the same place again.

No map - species found in just one place