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Heath Fritillary (Melitaea (Mellicta) athalia)
© Nick Greatorex-Davies
In Britain the Heath Fritilllary has much declined is a very rare and highly localised butterfly occuring in sunny situations where the vegetation is sparse and the microclimate at ground level is particularly warm, such as in recent coppice or on moorland edges. Depending on habitat the caterpillars feeds on a range of foodplants including Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense) and Ribwort Plantain (Plantago lanceolata). (For further details on this species see http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/).
Family: Nymphalidae
Status: Insufficient information
Status details:Insufficient information
Back to the topLog collated index plot
This chart shows the index of abundance (LCI = Log Collated Index) over time. It shows fluctuations in populations from year to year, and is scaled so that the average index over the whole series is equal to 2 (horizontal line). For greater detail about how this index is derived, click on the green question mark above.
Trend description:
The collated data come from only a handful (four) of sites but show a period of remarkable stability since 1993 with very little change from year to year. However at Luckett Wood in Cornwall numbers declined to single figures in 2002 and it has not been recorded on the transect since and may be extinct at the site. Insufficient creation of suitable open habitat at this woodland site is considered to be the main cause of this decline.
Distribution...
This map shows the distribution between 1995 and 1999. Data is derived from the Butterflies for the New Millenium dataset via the NBN Gateway (www.searchnbn.net).
View the distribution on the NBN GatewayPhenology...
Phenology plot
Phenology plot
This chart shows the average number of butterflies seen on transects between Arpil and October. The black line gives average counts over the full BMS series (1976 to date) and the red line gives the average for the last year.
Abundance...
Abundance
This map shows symbols for the mean abundance at transect sites, with the size of symbol reflecting the level of abundance. Means are over all years.
Coverage
In total, Heath Fritillary has been recorded from 155 transects in the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Of these, annual indices of abundance have been calculated from 46 sites, with an average index of 276 individuals per site.
For 33 of these sites, Heath Fritillary has been recorded well enough to calculate annual indices of abundance in 6 or more years, allowing trends to be calculated.
In 2006, 1355 individuals were recorded from 9 sites, producing annual indices at 19 of these.
This map shows the trend in abundance at particular transect sites. Trends (increasing, declining or stable) are assessed at sites where the species has more than five years of annual index data. Click on the green question mark next to the species name above for more details on how trends are calculated.
Links to lists of sites with particular statuses
- Stable sites (6)
- Declining sites (3)
