false heath fritillary vs Lesser Spotted Fritillary

Melitaea diamina compared with Melitaea trivia

Key Differences

• false heath fritillary is Vulnerable while Lesser Spotted Fritillary is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	false heath fritillary	Lesser Spotted Fritillary
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order same	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)
Family same	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)	Nymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
Genus same	Melitaea	Melitaea
Species	Melitaea diamina	Melitaea trivia

Evolutionary Relationship

false heath fritillary and Lesser Spotted Fritillary share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Melitaea.

Conservation Status

false heath fritillary

VU — Vulnerable

Lesser Spotted Fritillary

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	false heath fritillary	Lesser Spotted Fritillary
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

false heath fritillary

Habitat

Inhabits Mediterranean forests and woodlands within the Palearctic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found across Europe (35 countries). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Lesser Spotted Fritillary

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Found across Europe (21 countries).

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 19 countries:

🇦🇱 Albania 🇦🇩 Andorra 🇦🇹 Austria 🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇬 Bulgaria 🇭🇷 Croatia 🇨🇿 Czech Republic 🇭🇺 Hungary 🇮🇹 Italy 🇲🇩 Moldova 🇲🇪 Montenegro 🇲🇰 North Macedonia 🇷🇴 Romania 🇷🇺 Russia 🇷🇸 Serbia 🇸🇰 Slovakia 🇸🇮 Slovenia 🇪🇸 Spain 🇺🇦 Ukraine