Heath Fritillary Butterfly

One of Britain's rarest butterflies is making a comeback from the brink of extinction on Exmoor. You may be lucky enough to see this insect during its flight period in early June in Horner Woods.

One of the smaller fritillaries, distinguished by its dusky wing colours. It flies close to the ground with characteristic flits and glides. Heath Fritillary butterflies can be found in sheltered heathland combes on Exmoor where Common Cow-wheat grows as scattered plants, providing the butterfly with food. This butterfly is now one of England's rarest.

The Heath Fritillary, one of Britain's two fastest-declining butterflies, which has seen its population dwindle by 73% over the past 20 years, is showing signs of increasing thanks to intensive conservation efforts.

British butterflies are declining much faster than either birds or wild flowers, largely because they are more sensitive to environmental change. Many need specialised habitats, such as short-grazed turf or coppiced woodland in which the trees are cut in rotation, leaving open glades. If traditional farming management falls into disuse or is replaced by agricultural intensification, the butterflies tend to disappear.

The Heath Fritillary is one of the UK's rarest butterflies. Once abundant in numbers throughout the south
Exmoor is now the only place you can see these colourful creatures

• The Heath Fritillary is characterised by its orange, brown and black colourings
• It flies close to the ground in flits and glides
• It is fully protected in Great Britain and is a priority species, yet the Heath Fritillary is common in other parts of Europe and Asia
• The butterfly has a wingspan of 34-46mm
• It lives in either coppiced or newly felled woodland on acid soils, or sheltered heathland combes (valleys) on Exmoor
• The butterflies mate and lay a large batch of eggs of up to a 100 or more

2006 was a bumper year for Heath Fritillary Butterflies on Holnicote. Monitoring of this very rare and endangered species during the June flight period at Holnicote has shown not only that numbers have continued to increase but there have also been two re-colonisations of former sites on the estate. In 2000, the butterfly was on the verge of extinction from its former UK stronghold on Exmoor and was present in only very small numbers at just two sites on the estate. Habitat management jn recent years has resulted in the butterfly showing substantial increase in numbers and it has now been recorded at seven sites on the Holnicote Estate.

The Heath Fritillary (Melitaea athalia) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family

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