Spotted Fritillary

Spotted Fritillary

Melitaea didyma

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Milan

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%

52 Verified sightings at Milan
593 In all 9 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Spotted Fritillary

Melitaea didyma, the spotted fritillary or red-band fritillary, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Melitaea didyma is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan reaching 35–50 millimetres (1.4–2.0 in). The overside of the wings is a bright orange-brown with dark brown markings arranged in rows, which are quite variable in quantity and size. Sometimes the colour of the females is a duller orange, shaded with grey-green. The underside of the wings is chequered pale yellow and pale orange. M. didyma has seasonal forms and sexual dimorphism.

The male is fiery red, with a narrow dentate black distal border and a moderate number of small black dots and spots, which are dispersed over the basal half of the wing and end with a short band extending beyond the cell from the costa into the disc. On the underside, which is very abundantly marked with small black dots and hooks, a flexuose subbasal band and a curved submarginal one are situated on a delicately greenish, or yellowish, white ground. In the female the forewing and the anal area of the hindwing are much paler, being moreover dusted with blackish, while the costal half of the hindwing has preserved the... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
2 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~30%
3 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
4 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
5 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
6 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
7 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~10%
8 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
9 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Turin 🇮🇹 Italy
~20%
2 Milan 🇮🇹 Italy
~10%
3 Rome 🇮🇹 Italy
~10%
4 Lyon 🇫🇷 France
<5%
5 Vienna 🇦🇹 Austria
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Spotted Fritillary in Milan?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Fritillary sighting in Milan on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 63rd most-seen of the 351 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Spotted Fritillary in Milan?

May and August

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spotted Fritillary in Milan on a given day, against under 5% in October to February, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Spotted Fritillary?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spotted 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.

Is Milan the best place to see a Spotted Fritillary?

2nd of 5

Of the 5 cities where we can rate Spotted Fritillary sightings, Milan ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Turin (Italy, about 20%).

Where does the Spotted Fritillary sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Spotted Fritillary is recorded against all the insects logged in Milan (52 verified sightings), 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.

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