UK Butterflies

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European Map

Araschnia levana

a-RASH-nee-uh le-VAY-na

Wingspan
♂ 24 - 38 mm, ♀ 40 - 50 mm

Checklist Number
59.032

European Map

Araschnia levana

a-RASH-nee-uh le-VAY-na

Wingspan
♂ 24 - 38 mm, ♀ 40 - 50 mm

Checklist Number
59.032


This delightful little butterfly is best-known for having two forms, levana and prorsa that represent the spring and summer broods respectively. levana individuals are primarily orange in colour, giving them the appearance of a small fritillary, whereas prorsa individuals look more like a very small White Admiral.

This species was deliberately introduced in 1912 when the butterfly became established in the Forest of Dean in Monmouthshire, and Symond's Yat in Herefordshire. The well-known entomologist A.B. Farn was so opposed to the deliberate introduction of a foreign species that, in 1914, he deliberately collected and destroyed every individual he could find. However, the ultimate demise of the colonies is believed to be the result of additional (and unknown) factors.

A single individual was also recorded from Friday Street in Surrey on 21st May 1982. This could have been a genuine migrant, an accidental import or a release from captive-bred stock.

A specimen recorded at Wallingford in Oxfordshire on 29th July 1995 is a suspected release although another, recorded at Westbere, near Canterbury, East Kent, on 5th August 1995, may have been a genuine vagrant from north-east France.

These intermittent sightings do, at least, give us some hope that the butterfly will naturally reach our shores one day, although the English Channel does seem to represent a significant barrier.

This species was first defined in Linnaeus (1758) as shown here (type locality: Southern Europe).

The nominate form represents the spring brood and is primarily orange in colour, giving the appearance of a small fritillary.

This form was first defined in Linnaeus (1758) as shown here (type locality: Germany).

This form represents the summer brood where individuals are primarily black in colour, looking like a very small White Admiral.

Description to be completed.

This species is a rare migrant to Britain and/or Ireland.

1.2 Rare Migrant

Description to be completed.


No conservation action is relevant for this species.

Description to be completed.

Description to be completed.

Description to be completed.

Description to be completed.

Description to be completed.