High Brown Fritillary (Fabriciana adippe)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - butterfly > Butterfly |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | Argynnis adippe |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Fabriciana adippe |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | Fox & Dennis, 2021 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | GB Red List (Fox et al. 2022): EN. Statistically significant 65% decline in abundance since 1978 and a 21% short-term (10 year 2010-2019) decline; 82% long-term decline in distribution since 1985 and a 36% short-term decline (Fox et al. 2023) |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Well studied species; understand autecological requirements and bespoke management requirements although some requirements are now, not as well understood due to climate change |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | The species functions at the landscape-scale and actions need to take place at this scale but must be targeted and specific for this species |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Climate change |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | SRC step has been 6/7 in the past but due to new drivers of change (suspected climate change, nitrogen deposition) further research is critical to understand these new drivers and how to tackle them. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Carry out further research to understand how habitats are changing due to climate change (warmer/wetter winters; N deposition) and the impact on host plant and egg/larval development at microclimate level.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Increase advice and support to landowners, advisors, land managers on appropriate management practices as results of scientific research become available.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Advice & support
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Without regular management sites are at risk of extinction and must be maintained alongside the scientific research required and described in action 1
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Carry out habitat restoration and creation at extinct sites to restore suitability and at extant sites to increase area of suitable habitat to improve and size and connectivity of networks at a landscape-scale to enhance and restore populations.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat creation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites:
Comments:
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.