Pictured: dark green fritillary, Speyeria aglaja
Notes from Jenyns: Taken near Rampton by J.C. Dale, Esq. ~ & by myself at Burwell, Bottisham, & on the Devils’ Ditch. ~ Appears regularly every year in Great Swaffham fen, ~ & sometimes in plenty.
200-year trend in Cambridgeshire: Decline.
Modern records
The dark green fritillary has declined in the UK but is still widespread throughout the country. Until recently it was extinct in Cambridgeshire, with agricultural intensification, changes in woodland management, and, in East Anglia, the drainage of the fens thought to be responsible for its demise. However, numbers are rising and recent natural recolonisation means the species can again be seen in a few locations around Cambridgeshire, including Devils Dyke, as recorded by Jenyns 200 years ago.
National records map
Dark green fritillary national records map: https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NHMSYS0021297309