About
The Glanville fritillary is a beautiful orange and brown chequered butterfly that can only be found at a few locations in southern England, as well as on the Channel Islands. It's a sun-loving butterfly, which flies on warm days with little to no wind, and hides away amongst grasses on cooler, windier days.The Glanville fritillary favours habitats where the topsoil is regularly disturbed, allowing its larval foodplant (ribwort plantain) and nectar sources (such as dandelion, hawkweeds, bird's-foot trefoil, and thrift) to flourish. For this reason, it is often encountered on cliff sides, where the regular erosion of the cliffs creates the perfect disturbed conditions. The butterflies often form small discrete colonies, with little contact between them.
How to identify
The Glanville fritillary has a chequered pattern of orange and dark brown on the upper side of its wings. The underside of its hind wings are white with distinct orange bands and black markings.Did you know?
The name "Glanville" is a tribute to Lady Eleanor Glanville, the 17th century naturalist who discovered the species. The butterfly was originally known as the Lincolnshire fritillary, as Lady Glanville first discovered the species in the Lincolnshire Wolds.Eleanor Glanville is sometimes described as the first lady of British natural history; she studied butterflies at a time when it was considered improper behaviour for a respectable woman. After her death, Eleanor Glanville's family disputed her will on the grounds that she had lost her wits, as ‘nobody who was not deprived of their senses would go in pursuit of butterflies'.