''Melitaea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

brush-footed butterflies The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a redu ...

(

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

Melitaeini Melitaeini are a group of brush-footed butterflies. Usually classified as a tribe of the Nymphalinae, they are sometimes raised to subfamily status as Melitaeinae. Common names include the highly ambiguous fritillaries (also used for some He ...

of subfamily

Nymphalinae The Nymphalinae are a subfamily of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). Sometimes, the subfamilies Limenitidinae, and Biblidinae are included here as subordinate tribe(s), while the tribe Melitaeini is occasionally regarded as a distinc ...

; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the genus ''Mellicta'', making the subtribe Melitaeina

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

(but see below). For long, it was believed that ''Mellicta'' was a

junior objective synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnae ...

of ''Melitaea'', sharing the same

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

(the

Glanville fritillary The Glanville fritillary (''Melitaea cinxia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is named for the naturalist who discovered it and the checkerboard pattern on its wings. These butterflies live in almost all of Europe, especially Finla ...

, ''M. cinxia''). This was in error, however; the type species of ''Mellicta'' is actually the

heath fritillary The heath fritillary (''Melitaea athalia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found throughout the Palaearctic from western Europe to Japan, in heathland, grassland, and in coppiced woodland. Its association with coppiced woodland ...

(''M. athalia''), making the two

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

junior subjective synonyms and thus eligible to be separated again. However, several other taxa are in fact objective synonyms (or at least have

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

s belonging to the same biological species) of ''Melitaea'' and ''Mellicta'' – ''Schoenis'' and the preoccupied ''Lucina'' and ''Melinaea'' for the former, ''Athaliaeformia'' for the latter.

Taxonomy

As noted above, ''Mellicta'' is considered to be a subgenus of ''Melitaea'' for the time being. The rationale is that even though the Melitaeina may not be

, they do not seem to consist of just two genera (''Melitaea'' and ''Mellicta'') either, and recognition of ''Mellicta'' appears to leave ''Melitaea'' paraphyletic; consequently, other lineages would need elevation to distinct genus status also. As long as it is not fully known which species groups and/or subgenera warrant recognition as full genera, they are all retained in the present genus.

Species

In the following list, species-group/subgenus affiliation and

are annotated. In the ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'' circumscription used here, ''Melitaea'' contains almost ninety

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. Most being assignable to one of the five groups/subgenera, there are a few that cannot be clearly placed with one of these at present:See references in Haaramo (2010, 2011)

''didyma/Didymaeformia'' group * '' Melitaea abyssinica'' Oberthür, 1909 * '' Melitaea acraeina'' (Staudinger, 1886) * '' Melitaea agar'' Oberthür, 1888 * '' Melitaea ala'' Staudinger, 1881 * '' Melitaea alraschid'' Higgins, 1941 * ''

Melitaea ambrisia ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Higgins, 1935 * ''

Melitaea arduinna ''Melitaea arduinna'', or Freyer's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from south-eastern Europe across Asia Minor to central Asia and the Altai. The habitat consists of steppe-clad slopes. The wingspan is 45–50& ...

'' (Esper, 1783) – Freyer's fritillary * '' Melitaea athene'' Staudinger, 1881 * '' Melitaea avinovi'' Sheljuzhko, 1914 * '' Melitaea casta'' (Kollar, 848 * ''

Melitaea chitralensis ''Melitaea chitralensis'' is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Kashmir and Chitral. References

Butterflies described in 1901 Melitaea {{Nymphalinae-stub ...

'' Moore, 1901 * '' Melitaea deserticola'' Oberthür, 1909 – desert fritillary * ''

Melitaea didyma ''Melitaea didyma'', the spotted fritillary or red-band fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Description ''Melitaea didyma'' is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan reaching . The overside of the wings is a bright orange- ...

'' (Esper, 1778) – spotted fritillary, red-band fritillary (type of ''Didymaeformis'') * ''

Melitaea didymina ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Staudinger, 1895 * '' Melitaea didymoides'' Eversmann, 1847 * '' Melitaea enarea'' Fruhstorfer, 1917 * ''

Melitaea fergana ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Staudinger, 1882 * '' Melitaea infernalis'' Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 * ''

Melitaea interrupta ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family (biology), family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe (biology), tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited ...

'' Kolenati, 1846 * '' Melitaea jitka'' Weiss & Major, 2000 * '' Melitaea kotshubeji'' Sheljuzhko, 1929 * '' Melitaea latonigena'' Eversmann, 1847 * '' Melitaea lunulata'' Staudinger, 1901 * '' Melitaea lutko'' Evans, 1932 * ''

Melitaea meherparvari ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Carbonell, 2007 * '' Melitaea mimetica'' Higgins, 1940 * '' Melitaea mixta'' Evans, 1912 * ''

Melitaea ninae ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Sheljuzhko, 1935 * '' Melitaea persea'' Kollar,

850 ''For codepage, see CP850.'' __NOTOC__ Year 850 ( DCCCL) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * February 1 – King Ramiro I dies in his palac ...

/small> * '' Melitaea pseudoala'' Sheljuzhko, 1928 * '' Melitaea robertsi'' Butler, 1880 – Baluchi fritillary * ''

Melitaea romanovi ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Grum-Grshimailo, 1891 * '' Melitaea sarvistana'' Wiltshire, 1941 * '' Melitaea saxatilis'' Christoff, 1876 * ''

Melitaea shandura ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Evans, 1924 * '' Melitaea sutschana'' Staudinger, 1892 * ''

Melitaea trivia ''Melitaea trivia'', the lesser spotted fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, part of the sub-family Nymphalinae. Distribution It is found in the southern part of the Palearctic realm. In Europe it is sometimes called the de ...

'' Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 – lesser spotted fritillary, desert fritillary * '' Melitaea yuenty'' Oberthür, 1888 ''cinxia/Melitaea sensu stricto'' group * '' Melitaea amoenula'' C. & R.Felder, 867/small> * ''

Melitaea arcesia ''Melitaea arcesia'', the blackvein fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from southern Siberia and Transbaikalia to the Amur region, Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State ...

'' Bremer, 1861 – blackvein fritillary * '' Melitaea balbita'' Moore, 1874 * '' Melitaea bellona'' Leech, 892/small> * ''

Melitaea cinxia The Glanville fritillary (''Melitaea cinxia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is named for the naturalist who discovered it and the checkerboard pattern on its wings. These butterflies live in almost all of Europe, especially Finla ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Glanville fritillary (type of ''Melitaea'') * '' Melitaea diamina'' (Lang, 1789) – false-heath fritillary * '' Melitaea jezabel'' Oberthür, 1888 * '' Melitaea protomedia'' Ménétriés, 1859 * '' Melitaea sindura'' Moore, 1865 ''minerva'' group * '' Melitaea asteroidea'' Staudinger, 1881 * ''

Melitaea balba ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Evans, 1912 * '' Melitaea elisabethae'' Avinoff, 1910 * '' Melitaea ludmilla'' Churkin, Kolesnichenko & Tuzov, 2000 * '' Melitaea minerva'' Staudinger, 1881 * '' Melitaea pallas'' Staudinger, 1886 * '' Melitaea solona'' Alphéraky, 1881 * '' Melitaea sultanensis'' Staudinger, 1886 * ''

Melitaea turanica ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Erschoff, 1874 ''phoebe/Cinclidia'' group * ''

Melitaea aetherie The aetherie fritillary (''Melitaea aetherie''), is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Distribution It is found locally in mountain areas of North Africa and very locally in southern Spain, southern Portugal, Sicily and southern Italy ...

'' (Hübner, 1826) – aetherie fritillary * '' Melitaea collina'' Lederer, 1861 * '' Melitaea consulis'' Wiltshire, 1941 * '' Melitaea gina'' Higgins, 1941 * ''

Melitaea kuchi ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Wyatt, 1961 * '' Melitaea phoebe'' Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 – knapweed fritillary (type of ''Cinclidia'') * '' Melitaea pseudosibina'' Alberti, 1969 * '' Melitaea punica'' Oberthür, 1876 * '' Melitaea scotosia'' Butler, 1878 * ''

Melitaea sibina ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the ...

'' Alphéraky, 1881 * '' Melitaea telona'' Christoph, 1893 (formerly in ''M. phoebe'' or ''M. punica'') * '' Melitaea turkmanica'' Higgins, 1940

''Mellicta'' group Melitaea centralasiae - Seitz

* '' Melitaea alatauica'' Staudinger, 1881 * '' Melitaea ambigua'' Ménétriés in Schrenck, 1859 * ''

Melitaea asteria ''Melitaea asteria'', the little fritillary, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.Melitaea athalia'' (Rottemburg, 1775) – heath fritillary (type of ''Mellicta'') * ''

Melitaea aurelia ''Melitaea aurelia'', or Nickerl's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in central Europe. Description The wingspan is 28–32 mm. Dark russet-brown, so strongly marked with black that the ground-colour is re ...

'' Nickerl, 1850 – Nickerl's fritillary * '' Melitaea britomartis'' Assmann, 1847 – Assmann's fritillary * '' Melitaea caucasogenita'' Verity, 1930 * '' Melitaea centralasiae'' (Wnukowsky, 1929) (sometimes in ''M. menetriesi'') * '' Melitaea deione'' Geyer, 1832 – Provençal fritillary * ''

Melitaea menetriesi ''Melitaea'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies (family Nymphalidae). They are here placed in the tribe Melitaeini of subfamily Nymphalinae; some authors elevate this tribe to subfamily rank. As delimited here, ''Melitaea'' includes the g ...

'' Caradja, 1895 * '' Melitaea nevadensis'' Oberthür, 1904 * '' Melitaea parthenoides'' Keferstein, 1851 – European meadow fritillary, meadow fritillary * '' Melitaea plotina'' Bremer, 1861 * '' Melitaea rebeli'' Wnukowsky, 1929 * '' Melitaea varia'' (Meyer-Dür, 1851) – Grisons fritillary * '' Melitaea westsibirica'' (Dubatolov, 1998)

Incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

'' * '' Melitaea kunlunensis'' Kudrna & Mracek, 1994 * '' Melitaea oorschoti'' Eckweiler, 2008 * '' Melitaea paludani'' Clench & Shoumatoff, 1956 * '' Melitaea tangigharuensis'' de Freina, 1980 * '' Melitaea wiltshirei'' Higgins, 1941

Footnotes

References

Fauna Europaea Fauna Europaea is a database of the scientific names and distribution of all living multicellular Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight o ...

(FE) (2009)
''Melitaea''
Version 2.1, 22 December 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011. * Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004a)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
�
''Melitaea''
Version of 5 November 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2011. * Pitkin, Brian & Jenkins, Paul (2004b)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
�
''Mellicta''
Version of 5 November 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2011. * Savela, Markku (2009): Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' �

Version of 17 August 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2011. * Savela, Markku (2010): Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' �

Version of 2 May 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2011. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1745802 Melitaeini Butterfly genera Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius