Wild Meadows provide resting, feeding and breeding sites for some of Britain's most colourful butterflies, which depend on specific wild flowers or grasses to complete their life cycle. LIke their habitat, the majority of grassland butterflies are also in perilous decline - a situation parallelled all over Europe, where grasslands are rapidly being converted for more intensive agriculture or abandoned as remote rural villages become depopulated and the young people move to town.
Most of this section of the website links to resources provided by other organisations, particularly the charity Butterfly Conservation which is an important partner in Wild Meadows. For comprehensive descriptions of all British Butterflies see both theButterfly Conservation website andUK Butterflies.
Habitat: Calcareous grassland and open habitats. Wales: mainly near the coast. England: SW to S Yorkshire.
Marsh Fritillary Habitat: rushy pastures and calcareous grasslands. Larvae feed on Devil's-bit Scabious and over-winter in 'webs', which will be destroyed by winter grazing. Link to Butterfly Conservation website.
Marsh Fritillary factsheet Butterfly Conservation publication (PDF) that includes information about the species and management of its grassland habitat.
Marbled White Widespread in unimproved grassland. Larvae feed on grass. Link to Butterfly Conservation website.
Meadow Brown Widespread in unimproved grassland. Larvae feed on grass. Link to Butterfly Conservation website.
About Grasslands
Brown Argus
Marsh Fritillary
Adonis Blue (Female)