Melitaea cinxia

Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia)

2025 photographs highlighted in green. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.


10446_male_Alpes-Maritimes_9May08	35226_male_Alpes-Maritimes_3Jun14	53666_male_Gard_04Jul25	14939_female_Var_07May09

17458_female_Hautes-Alpes_08Jul09	24454_female_Alpes-de-Haute-Provence_02May11	42512_female_Var_25Apr17	24337_male_Var_24Apr11

53670_male_Gard_04Jul25	5142_female_Var_29Apr07	42517_female_Var_25Apr17	15132_pair_Var_09May09

Quite common in central and southern France, in fact it is widespread and often common, contrasting with its range in the UK which is limited to the Isle of Wight and (allegedly) a mainland coastal location in Somerset, and I believe it flies at Hutchinson's Bank in Surrey where I think it was an introduction.

It is an early season butterfly, emerging in April and having all but disappeared in the far south by the end of May, although this is not true of other parts of France further north.

The uppersides are very similar to the ex-Mellicta genus although it belongs to the original Melitaea group. It is superficially similar to many other fritillaries, but the black spots in the uph post-discal spaces make it easily distinguishable from its relatives, at least in France. The undersides are very different to ex-Mellicta species, showing why cinxia was classified as being of the Melitaea genus. This was the case until 2010 when the new European taxonomy was issued which groups the Mellicta species under the Melitaea genus.

A superb video of the life-cycle of cinxia has been produced by Filming VarWild and can be viewed on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4WA_Yt18kk

ref	sex	observations	alt. m
10446	M	a rather dark male, the dark chequered borders contrasting nicely with the fresh white fringes.	1000
35226	M	a dark male from higher altitude, perhaps a little darker than 10446.	1080
53666	M	a male. The time of this photograph was during a very hot and extended heatwave in southern France, 40C every day for over a week. As such, at this location very few butterflies flew. 53666 looked immaculate as if it had just emerged and its pristine condition suggested that was the case. It stayed in this pose for some 20 minutes and then closed its wings, showing its underside in 53670.	60
14939	F	a female, based on the heavier markings and the roundness of what is just visible of the body.	220
17458	F	a very dark female from high altitude. It is actually a mating pair, male just visible below.	2000
24454	PAIR	a mating pair, the female on top and with wings open.	700
42512	F	a rather dusky and heavily marked female, perhaps unusual in that it was a lowland specimen. 42517 is the underside.	140
24337	M	the underside of a freshly emerged male.	220
53670	M	a male, the underside of 53666.	60
15132	PAIR	a mating pair, female above. The female is more heavily marked and this seems to be consistent for most or all of the specimens I have seen.	450
5142	F	a female, the pose indicating that it was roosting for the night. The black spots are quite heavy in the post-discal orange band, suggesting female.	220
42517	F	a female, the underside of 42512. The discal band is particularly white and the spots in the post-discal band are very large.	140