Glanville Fritillary

The Glanville Fritillary (Melitaea cinxia) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.

The animal spends most of its life as a black, spiny caterpillar. The orange patterned butterfly lives only a few weeks.

The Glanville Fritillary inhabits open grassland throughout Europe (except much of Great Britain, Scandinavia, and southern Spain) and temperate Asia. A subspecies inhabits North Africa. Severe population declines are reported in many European countries.