High Brown Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Fabriciana adippe

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Pyrénées National Park

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

70 Verified sightings at Pyrénées National Park From 2019 to 2026
300 In all 12 parks
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the High Brown Fritillary

The high brown fritillary (Fabriciana adippe) is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is listed as a vulnerable species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Like other fritillaries it is dependent on warm climates with violet-rich flora.

The high brown fritillary's wingspan is on average around 65 mm. Its upper wings are orange with black markings and the undersides are colored a duller orange with white and brown markings. While flying, it is very hard to distinguish from the dark green fritillary which has many of the same markings. The male and female fritillary share many of the same physical features.

Larvae are brown with a single longitudinal white stripe down the length of their body. Their bodies are covered in brown spikes which aid in camouflaging them from predators as they move among dead fern fronds. A. adippe L. (= berecynthia Poda, cydippe L.) (69d). Usually larger than the previous species [ Argynnis alexandra Ménetries, 1832], the wings

more obtuse, the outer margin... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~40%
2 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~20%
3 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~20%
4 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~20%
5 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
~10%
6 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
7 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
8 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%
9 Sierra Nevada National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
10 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
11 Sierra de Guadarrama National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
12 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Novosibirsk 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
2 Munich 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
3 Nizhny Novgorod 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
4 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
5 Prague 🇨🇿 Czechia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a High Brown Fritillary in Pyrénées National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a High Brown Fritillary sighting in Pyrénées National Park on a given day, based on 70 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 119th most-seen of the 1277 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 High Brown Fritillary in Pyrénées National Park?

July

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a High Brown Fritillary in Pyrénées National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a High Brown Fritillary?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most High Brown 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 Pyrénées National Park the best place to see a High Brown Fritillary?

7th of 12

Of the 12 parks where we can rate High Brown Fritillary sightings, Pyrénées National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 40%), Triglav National Park (Slovenia, about 20%) and Ecrins National Park (France, about 20%).

Where does the High Brown Fritillary sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the High Brown Fritillary is recorded against all the insects logged in Pyrénées National Park (70 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.

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