''Melitaea didyma'', the spotted fritillary or red-band fritillary, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family Nymphalidae.

Description

''Melitaea didyma'' is a medium-sized butterfly with a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

reaching . The overside of the wings is a bright orange-brown with dark brown markings arranged in rows, which are quite variable in quantity and size. Sometimes the colour of the females is a duller orange, shaded with grey-green. The underside of the wings is chequered pale yellow and pale orange. ''M. didyma'' has seasonal forms and

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. The male is fiery red, with a narrow dentate black distal border and a moderate number of small black dots and spots, which are dispersed over the basal half of the wing and end with a short band extending beyond the cell from the costa into the disc. On the underside, which is very abundantly marked with small black dots and hooks, a flexuose subbasal band and a curved submarginal one are situated on a delicately greenish, or yellowish, white ground. In the female the forewing and the anal area of the hindwing are much paler, being moreover dusted with blackish, while the costal half of the hindwing has preserved the red tint : the whole wings are much more abundantly but less prominently marked with black. There occur sometimes specimens with a blue gloss on the upperside. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Biology

This butterfly flies from March to October depending on the location. This species has two or three generations and overwinters as young caterpillar. The larvae feed on various plants, including ''

Linaria ''Linaria'' is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Planta ...

'', ''

Plantago lanceolata ''Plantago lanceolata'' is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is known by the common names ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, and buckhorn. It is a common weed on c ...

'', '' Veronica'', ''

Centaurea jacea ''Centaurea jacea'', brown knapweed or brownray knapweed, is a species of herbaceous perennial plants in the genus ''Centaurea'' native to dry meadows and open woodland throughout Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally conside ...

'' and ''

Digitalis purpurea ''Digitalis purpurea'', the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North Ame ...

''."''Melitaea'' Fabricius, 1807"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' Melitaea didyma MHNT CUT 2013 3 26 male Cahors Dorsal.jpg, Male Melitaea didyma MHNT CUT 2013 3 26 male Cahors Ventral.jpg, Male underside Melitaea didyma MHNT CUT 2013 3 26 Female Vallée de Freissinières Dorsal.jpg, Female Melitaea didyma MHNT CUT 2013 3 26 Female Vallée de Freissinières Ventral.jpg, Female underside

Distribution

It is found in southern and central Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and Siberia. It is absent from northern Europe (England, Ireland, northern France, Germany, Poland and Scandinavia).

Habitat

''Melitaea didyma'' prefers flowery and grassy areas, meadows and roadsides.

Subspecies

The species is divided into the following subspecies: * ''Melitaea didyma didyma'' * ''Melitaea didyma elavar'' Fruhstorfer, 1917 * ''Melitaea didyma kirgisica'' Bryk, 1940 * ''Melitaea didyma neera'' Fischer de Waldheim, 1840 * ''Melitaea didyma occidentalis'' Staudinger, 1861 * ''Melitaea didyma turkestanica'' Sheljuzhko, 1929 * ''Melitaea didyma ambra'' Higgings, 1941 (MHNT) Melitaea didyma occidentalis - Ifrane Maroc - male dorsal.jpg, ''Melitaea didyma occidentalis'' ♂ (MHNT) Melitaea didyma occidentalis - Ifrane Maroc - male ventral.jpg, ''Melitaea didyma occidentalis'' ♂ △ (MHNT) Melitaea didyma occidentalis - Ifrane Maroc - female dorsal.jpg, ''Melitaea didyma occidentalis'' ♀ (MHNT) Melitaea didyma occidentalis - Ifrane Maroc - female ventral.jpg, ''Melitaea didyma occidentalis'' ♀ △

Images of life cycle

File:Melitaea didyma2 RF.jpg, Mating File:Melitaea_didyma_larva.jpg, Larva (or caterpillar) Spotted fritillary (Melitaea didyma) chrysalis Macedonia.jpg, Pupa (or chrysalis)

References

* Guide des papillons d'Europe et d'Afrique du Nord, Delachaux et Niestlé, Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington

Catalogue of life

External links

AdaMerOs – Butterflies of Turkey

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1071813 Melitaea Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Asia Fauna of Pakistan Insects described in 1778 Taxa named by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper