Melitaea cinxia
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Glanville fritillary (Melitaea cinxia) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is named for Eleanor Glanville, the naturalist who discovered it, and the checkerboard pattern on its wings. These butterflies live in almost all of Europe, especially Finland, and in parts of northwest Africa. They are absent from the far north of Europe and parts of the Iberian Peninsula. To the east they are found across the Palearctic (in Turkey, Russia, northern Kazakhstan, and Mongolia).
It has been discovered that this butterfly only mates one time in June or July and lays its eggs. It does not provide any protection to these eggs or care for the offspring. As adults, the Glanville fritillaries are short-lived; they spend most of their lives as caterpillars. As caterpillars, Glanville fritillaries enter a stage of diapause, which is a period of suspended development, during the winter time.
The spiked speedwell and ribwort plantain are the Glanville fritillary's preferred plants to lay eggs and to eat as larvae. Female butterflies will show a preference for one plant species over the other when deciding where to lay their eggs, but the caterpillars have no preference once they hatch. After entering the adult phase the fritillaries feed on nectar of the spiked speedwell and ribwort plantain, among others.
This species of butterfly is at risk of population decline because it is not a migratory species. Though widespread, populations in Finland are at risk because they are not able to travel great distances as easily as other species, such as monarchs, if their environment should suddenly become unsuitable. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 10 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Glanville Fritillary sighting in Aigüestortes National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 155th most-seen of the 256 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and June
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Glanville Fritillary in Aigüestortes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to February, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Glanville Fritillary sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Glanville Fritillary sightings, Aigüestortes National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Mercantour National Park (France, about 30%), Cévennes National Park (France, about 20%) and Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%).
Same genus: Melitaea
The closest relatives of the Glanville Fritillary that you can see in Aigüestortes National Park (genus Melitaea) are Spotted Fritillary (about 30%), Knapweed Fritillary (about 20%) and False Heath Fritillary (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Glanville Fritillary is recorded against all the insects logged in Aigüestortes National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
