Bug FAQGlanville Fritillary
Melitaea cinxia · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: glanville fritellary
The Glanville fritillary is a medium-sized butterfly with orange, black and white checkered forewings and distinctive rows of black dots on the hindwings. It lives in open grasslands up to 2000 m elevation across most of Europe and parts of temperate Asia, favoring south-facing slopes where plantain grows. Adults feed only on nectar, fly from June to early July, lay up to ten egg clutches, and the caterpillars overwinter in diapause.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The forewings show orange, black and white checkered patterns, while the upper side of the hindwings has a row of black dots and orange-white bands.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from about 33 to 40 mm (1.3 to 1.6 in).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in open grassland from sea level up to 2000 m. In the UK it is limited to soft undercliff and chine grassland where plantain is abundant on sheltered, south-facing slopes.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults drink nectar from flowers such as spiked speedwell and ribwort plantain.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
A female can lay up to ten separate batches of eggs during her life. Caterpillars enter a winter diapause, pausing development until spring.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing, mate and lay eggs from June through early July. The adult stage is brief; most of the lifespan is spent as a caterpillar.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range covers most of Europe, especially Finland, parts of northwest Africa, and extends into temperate Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It resembles the heath fritillary but can be told apart by the beige-orange bands on the underside of the wings and the presence of spots on the upper hindwings.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell them apart from similar butterflies?
Look for the beige-orange bands on the underside and the black spots on the upper side of the hindwings, which the heath fritillary lacks.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glanville_fritillary
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.