Perfect — here’s a deep, no-pictures overview of the Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino), one of Europe’s most elegant mid-summer butterflies.

🦋 Lesser Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis ino)

🔹 Taxonomy

• Order: Lepidoptera
• Family: Nymphalidae (Brush-footed butterflies)
• Subfamily: Heliconiinae (Fritillaries)
• Genus: Brenthis
• Species: B. ino

Closely related to the Marbled Fritillary (Brenthis daphne) and Niobe Fritillary (Argynnis niobe), but smaller and more northern in range.

🌍 Distribution

A boreal–temperate species, widespread across northern and central Eurasia:

• Found from northern Spain and France through Scandinavia, Central Europe, the Balkans, and into Siberia and Japan.
• Absent from most Mediterranean lowlands and the British Isles.
• Occurs up to 1,800 m elevation in alpine and subalpine meadows.

Often patchy in distribution but locally abundant in suitable habitats.

🏞️ Habitat

Specialist of damp, sunny, and herb-rich environments, including:

• Wet meadows and fens
• Marsh edges, riverbanks, ditches
• Open woodland clearings and boreal forest edges

Key requirement:
✅ Presence of violets (Viola spp.), especially those growing in moist soils.

Prefers semi-natural, undisturbed wetlands — disappears rapidly with drainage or intensive mowing.

✨ Identification

Wingspan: 35–45 mm → a medium-sized, compact fritillary.

Upperside:

• Orange-brown ground color
• Dark marbled or checkered pattern with small black spots and wavy lines
• Sexes similar, though females often slightly larger and duller.

Underside:

• Hindwing with distinct silver or pale marbling, giving a washed, clouded appearance
• No bright silver spots like Boloria fritillaries — rather a soft greenish-buff or violet-brown mosaic pattern

Flight is low, fluttering, and fast, rarely rising above knee height.

🌱 Diet & Host Plants

Larval host plants:

• Violets (Viola palustris, V. canina, V. reichenbachiana)
• Occasionally V. tricolor and V. hirta
• Always found in moist, partly shaded ground layers

Adult nectar sources:

• Thistles (Cirsium, Carduus)
• Marsh bedstraw (Galium palustre)
• Hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)
• Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)

Nectar preference leans toward tall, wetland-flowering plants.

🔄 Life Cycle

Typically univoltine (one generation per year).

Overwintering stage: larva (half-grown)
Pupation: low in vegetation, inconspicuous grey-brown chrysalis.

🧠 Behavior

• Flies low over vegetation, often near stream margins.
• Males patrol territories and visit wet sand or puddles for minerals (“mud-puddling”).
• Often rests on tall sedges, grasses, or flowers between flights.
• Activity strongly dependent on sunlight and humidity — rarely flies in overcast conditions.

🧩 Variation & Subspecies

Several regional forms recognized:

• B. i. ino — Nominate form (Central Europe, Scandinavia)
• B. i. asteris — Alps and Carpathians, larger and paler
• B. i. satrapia — Siberia, darker upperside
• B. i. brenda — Japan, distinct underside pattern

Variation usually subtle and continuous across range.

🌿 Ecology & Role

• Important nectar source for pollinators in wet meadow ecosystems.
• Indicator of undisturbed, floristically rich wetlands.
• Sensitive to:
  • Drainage
  • Mowing during flight or larval stages
  • Loss of violets through eutrophication or overgrazing

⚖️ Conservation Status

• IUCN: Least Concern (overall stable)
• Regional declines: western and southern Europe due to wetland loss.
• Thrives in protected bogs, fen meadows, and traditional hayfields.
• Conservation measures:
  • Maintain late mowing (after August)
  • Preserve violet-rich wetland patches
  • Avoid drainage and fertilizer runoff

✅ Summary Table

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