Euphydryas aurinia
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The marsh fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Commonly distributed in the Palearctic region, the marsh fritillary's common name derives from one of its several habitats, marshland. The prolonged larval stage lasts for approximately seven to eight months and includes a period of diapause over the winter. The larvae are dependent on the host food plant Succisa pratensis not only for feeding but also for hibernation, because silken webs are formed on the host plant as the gregarious larvae enter hibernation. Females lay eggs in batches on the host plant and are, like other batch-layers, selective about the location of oviposition because offspring survivorship levels for batch-layers are more tied to location selection than they are for single-egg layers.
As of 2019 the butterfly's global conservation status is considered of least concern, but it has faced rapid decline and is considered regionally vulnerable or endangered over much of its range. E. aurinia is represented by many subspecies. The most widely accepted are:
Euphydryas aurinia aurinia central Europe, southern Europe, western Siberia Euphydryas aurinia bulgarica (Fruhstorfer... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 2 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Picos de Europa National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Fritillary sighting in Mercantour National Park on a given day, based on 25 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 119th most-seen of the 412 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.
April and May
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Fritillary in Mercantour National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Marsh 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.
Among the best
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Marsh Fritillary sightings, Mercantour National Park ranks 4th at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 20%), Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (Spain, about 20%) and Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Marsh Fritillary that you can see in Mercantour National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Almond Ringlet (about 40%), Large Ringlet (about 40%) and Niobe Fritillary (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Marsh Fritillary is recorded against all the insects logged in Mercantour National Park (25 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.
