The prolonged larval stage lasts for approximately seven to eight months and includes a period of hibernation over the winter.

This species is widespread in the Palearctic realm, from Ireland in the west to Yakutia in the east, and to north-west China and Mongolia in the south.

[7][8] The marsh fritillary is in decline in Europe and it is one of eleven butterflies covered by the United Kingdom Biodiversity Action Plan.

The marsh fritillary is protected under UK law, listed under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and the EU Habitats and Species Directive (Annex II).

[14] Euphydryas aurinia usually is found in natural and seminatural moist or wet oligotrophic grasslands (purple moorgrass and heath rush meadows), base rich fens, mostly in Eastern, North-Western and Central Lithuania, where its main foodplant Succisa pratensis (Dipsacaceae) is abundant.

[15] The availability of larval food plant S. pratensis and grass height are the most important factors in providing an optimal habitat for E. aurinia.

[11] Not only is the density of host plant crucial for a favorable habitat, but also the height of the sward, the expanse of grass covering the area where E. aurinia lives.

However, if the sward height is too tall and densely packed, then it becomes difficult for adult butterflies to locate the host plant to oviposit on.

[11] Adults are polyphagous and generally feed on Ranunculus ssp., Cirsium ssp., Leucantherum vulgare, Myosotis ssp., Rubus ssp most often.

[17] They have also been observed feeding on Caltha palustris, also known as kingcup or marsh-marigold, and Ajuga reptans, also known as bugle or bugleweed.

Also, sparse, open vegetation structure is favored over dense, thick grasslands when the host plant S. pratensis is used for oviposition.

Often, E. aurinia will lay eggs at edges of such meadows because the vegetation structure and plant height fit the female butterfly preference for oviposition.

However, there are also indications that it is not high chlorophyll concentration but the presence of conspecific egg clusters which attracts females to oviposit on a certain leaf.

[19] In the Czech Republic, the presence of short grasses that can serve a cushion-like function (especially Nardus stricta) in the vicinity of the host plant was positively correlated with nest numbers.

[4] In the autumn, they make stronger webs closer to the ground, usually within a dense grass tussock, where they will start to hibernate.

The security of suitable places where the butterfly does not presently inhabit is essential to its survival in the long term.

The average local population size increases as a result of the limited mobility of adult butterflies.

[26] Mating is believed to occur randomly, as shown by the fact that there is no significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in E. aurinia populations.

[26] The caterpillars are liable to be attacked by the parasitoid wasp Apanteles bignellii, especially in warm spring weather.

As of 2017, rapid decline of the population had been observed in Denmark due to loss of habitat and host plants.

Due to cultivation and shift of land use from traditional farming to grazing, the frequency of S. pratensis populations has declined over the past few years.

Environmental changes such as acidification and eutrophication have led to a decline in available optimal habitat for S. pratensis, and consequently for E.

[9] Human activities such as modern farming altered their main habitat – England's damp meadows – and have changed the climate as well.

This loss of major habitats has led to fragmentation and isolation of E. aurinia populations, thus leading to metapopulation formation.

This can be explained by the fact that vegetation is less dense and the host plants tend to be larger in size on cropland.

There have been efforts made to re-introduce butterflies into empty patches of habitat to increase re-colonization, and techniques such as controlled burns and cattle grazing have also been utilized to promote E. aurinia population growth.

Under-grazing can lead to growth of dense, scrubby plants, which is also unsuitable and unfavored by the female butterflies.

[11] The aim is to produce an uneven patchwork of short and long vegetation by the end of the grazing period, between 8 and 25 cm.

Another common method for conservation efforts is swaling, which is a form of land management where controlled burning is used to prevent overgrowth of vegetation and promote wildlife biodiversity.

[11] Lastly, in extreme cases, efforts to re-introduce E. aurinia butterflies into empty patches of habitat have been attempted in order to increase the colonization rate.