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Field guide · Denmark
Brush-footed butterflies · Denmark

Cranberry fritillary

Boloria aquilonaris

Cranberry fritillary is relatively rare in Denmark. Wingspan: 32-42 mm. Cranberry fritillary flies from early June to mid-July. Associated with raised bogs, quaking bogs, and heathland bogs, potentially with cranberry.

Status in this countryRelatively rare in DenmarkEN (Endangered)
Cranberry fritillary

Flight period

Cranberry fritillary flies from late May through mid-July. Due to its lifestyle in sphagnum mosses, the species’ flight period is somewhat less affected by temperature fluctuations compared to species living on dry ground.

Habitat

Associated with raised bogs, quaking bogs and heathland bogs with cranberry. The species’ preferred nectar plant, marsh cinquefoil, should also be present in the first two habitats.

Identifying features

Wingspan: 32–42 mm. The warm reddish-orange ground colour of the wing upperside is divided by black patches and markings.

Similar species

Cranberry fritillary can (from the upperside of the wing) be easily confused with the other small pearly moths, but can easily be identified by the characteristic underside of the hindwing.

Distribution

Danish cranberry fritillaries are considered to belong to an overlap between the subspecies alethea and the nominate subspecies arsilache. The species has declined greatly over the last 70–80 years because of extensive drainage and especially peat extraction, but fortunately remains at several sites in Jutland.

Biology

Cranberry fritillary primarily inhabits quaking bogs and raised bogs. In Jutland, it can be found in several locations throughout North and West Jutland within heathland bogs.