Male, Switzerland, June 2015
Male, Switzerland, June 2015
Males, Switzerland, June 2015
Male, Switzerland, July 2016
Male, Switzerland, June 2015
Male, Switzerland, July 2013
Male, Switzerland, July 2011
Female, July 2011
Roosting, Swtizerland, July 2011
Female, Switzerland, July 2013, on the foodplant
Male, Switzerland, July 2011
Female, Switzerland, July 2009
Female, Switzerland, July 2009
Egg - laid on a plant near the foodplant
Approximate distribution.
This delightful butterfly
flies in wet, upland and lowland areas with Vacciniumplants,
usually in the vicinity of trees, and may be locally abundant
even though more globally it is a scarce insect. I have only seen it
for certain at one extended site in Switzerland, within which there are
at least
two more or less discrete local colonies. At the same site, both violet
coppers and moorland clouded yellows fly - species that share the
foodplant. It is worth paying particular attention to Boloria butterflies
if these other butterflies are present.
The cranberry fritillary is a lively species, rarely settling in good
weather, though quick to go down when clouds cover the sun. Both sexes
can be seen at nectar but in my experience they are soon up and off
again. The butterfly closely resembles mountain and shepherd's
fritillaries, both of which are likely to be seen in the same places,
but is much more heavily branded above and beneath. In particular, the
markings on the underside of the forewing are dark and clear, while in
the other two species these are faint, as if rubbed out. This is
evident even in lightly marked individuals, and similarly, even heavily
marked shepherd's fritillaries have only faint markings beneath the
wing. The Balkan fritillary, Boloria
graeca, also has dark markings on the underside forewing
but there is no geographical overlap with this species.
Females lay their eggs on or near the foodplant. The only egg I
have found (I watched it being laid) was laid on a different plant, but
near Vaccinium.
The
caterpillars hibernate while still small and develop in the spring, to
emerge as adults in June or July, flying until late August. In the far
north of Europe, the seasonal cycle is said to take two years.