---
title: "Heath Fritillary"
description: "Melitaea athalia — Insetti e ragni. The heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/heath-fritillary
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Heath Fritillary

> Melitaea athalia — Insetti e ragni. The heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.

- Scientific name: *Melitaea athalia*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta), `grassland` (Prati e campi)
- iNaturalist observations: 17281
- Wikidata: [Q651464](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q651464)
- iNaturalist taxon: [132875](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/132875)

## Names

- en: Heath Fritillary
- de: Wachtelweizen-Scheckenfalter
- es: Doncella Atalía
- fr: Mélitée du mélampyre
- nl: Bosparelmoervlinder
- pl: Przeplatka atalia

## Countries with the most observations

RU (1359), FI (1126), DE (1090), AT (813), SE (598), CZ (545), PL (507), LT (449), GB (369), FR (325), DK (189), HU (177)

## Summary

The heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found throughout the Palaearctic from western Europe to Japan, in heathland, grassland, and in coppiced woodland. Its association with coppiced woodland earned it the name "woodman's follower" in parts of the UK. It is considered a threatened species in the UK and Germany, but not Europe-wide or globally.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_fritillary

## Photo

![Heath Fritillary](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/heath-fritillary/medium.jpg)

Photo: Tero Linjama · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/228859013

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/heath-fritillary?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).