It is native to Europe, where it is threatened, and red listed in six countries.

[5] It was reported from Belize in 2007, growing under Quercus peduncularis - a species of oak tree.

[6] The bolete was first described scientifically by French mycologist Jean Louis Émile Boudier in 1902.

[7] It was transferred to the new genus Rubroboletus in 2014 along with several other allied reddish colored, blue-staining bolete species.

[8] Phylogenetically, R. dupainii is the sister species of Rubroboletus lupinus.