Species Account for Argynnis aglaja

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Essex RDB: Appendix

1992-on hectads: 0

Pre-1992 hectads: 0

Total hectads: 0

Additional Phenology Data

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Dark Green Fritillary (male)

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Essex Red Data List comment
Appendix. Dark Green Fritillary. Local. Extinct as resident since the late 1950s or early 1960s. Vagrants still occur.

Species text
Typically an inhabitant of chalk and limestone downland and coastal dunes, Corke regarded the Dark Green Fritillary as a woodland species in Essex and the South-East. Extinction occurred possibly in the early 1960s after the cessation of coppicing (D. Corke, 1997: The Butterflies of Essex). In recent years, the Dark Green Fritillary has been increasing in abundance at known colonies in the Chilterns. Occasional sightings in South Cambridgeshire have materialised as a definite colony in 2011, a year which also saw sightings in Broxbourne Woods in Hertfordshire, Hatfield Forest and north-west Essex. It is unclear at this stage whether these are vagrants or whether this could represent a possible recolonisation of the county as there has not been a similar pattern of range expansion as seen with the Silver-washed Fritillary (Butterfly Conservation). References

Habitats

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