Heath Fritillary in Essex: a review of its status and a report of its second generation 123
management, especially coppicing. This last scenario may come about through a lack of knowledge
or understanding of the fritillary's specific needs by woodland managers, or possibly because of
financial constraints.
All the four Essex populations are on land which is designated as a SSSI or on EWT reserves.
Conservation management that is targeted specifically at the Heath Fritillary is being performed by
four separate organisations in the county - namely Butterfly Conservation, EWT, Rochford District
Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. The populations in the various locations are
monitored by a group of woodland managers and volunteers.
The objectives of the Biodiversity Action Plan for Heath Fritillary in Essex are as follows:
1) Continue to manage all sites positively to maintain and enhance populations
2) Continue to monitor all existing sites
3) Continue to target resources on appropriate sites
4) Increase the area of suitable habitat around existing colonics to make them more secure
5) Further monitoring of the wider area to include other sites in its former range which could
become suitable with appropriate management
6) Continue to conduct strategic re-establishments into suitably restored habitats
With so many different people and organisations now involved in making sure that the Heath Fritillary
remains part of the Essex butterfly fauna, we can now be reasonably confident that its outlook is
secure for the foreseeable future. As is the case with so many of our native butterflies, this species is
on the edge of its European range and is generally very particular and exacting about the habitat
micro-climates that can determine whether a colony prospers or fails. Hopefully, now that these
essentials to understanding its ecology are known and documented, we will be able to look forward
to watching these beautiful and enchanting creatures for many years to corne, just so long as
complacency does not gain the upper hand and undo all the effort that has been put in over the last
twenty years and more.
Autumn 1999: a unique second generation at Hockley Woods
Although the ecology of Heath Fritillary is reasonably well understood, the species can still throw
up surprises. In 1999, a generally mediocre year for many butterflies in Essex, it came as something
of a surprise to discover our normally univoltine Heath Fritillary experiencing a virtually complete
second brood at Hockley Woods in late summer.
Over the past few years, I have noted a very partial second brood on two previous occasions -
namely in 1992 when singletons were found on 25th August and 10th September, and again in 1997
when three were observed on 4th September and two eight days later on 12th. 1 had thought that these
were unusual enough, but I was unprepared what possibly turned out to be a unique event in the
recorded history of this insect in England.
Earlier in 1999, I encountered my first very freshly-emerged adults on 20th May when two were
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 17 (2000)