Southwest Section members of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management  were very fortunate to see both imago and egg stages of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly Euphydryas aurinia at a beautiful limestone grassland reserve in Chalford, Gloucestershire. There was a fine display of butterfly orchids too. We are very grateful to Sue Smith of Butterfly Conservation who enlightened us as to the local conservation status of this rare and protected species. She provided an insight into its life history and land management requirements, illustrated by a visit to another site where the species was known but currently is not.

This report was written by Julian Arthur to appear in the CIEEM newsletter.

Marsh Fritillary eggs on Devil’s-bit Scabious

Marsh Fritillary