''Melitaea varia'', the Grisons fritillary, is a

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

of the family

Nymphalidae 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 red ...

. It is found in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...

at heights of , especially in the

Swiss cantons The 26 cantons of Switzerland (german: Kanton; french: canton ; it, cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: ; Vallader and Puter: ; Sutsilvan: ; Rumantsch Grischun: ) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss C ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the S ...

Engadin The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ...

and Graubünden. It is also found in the Ortler region in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous area, Autonomous Provinces of Italy, province , image_skyline = ...

, Alpes-Maritimes and

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, high areas of

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and high areas in the Apennine Mountains such as Abruzzo.

Description

The

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 o ...

is 24–28 mm.

Description from Seitz

''varia'' Meyer-Dür (65b) is a smaller form from the higher Alps, recognizable by the markings on the hindwing beneath, which are pale yellow in the nymotypical form, being silvery white. In the male the markings in the median area of the forewing are usually somewhat obsolescent, the network formed by the veins and transverse lines being interrupted or paler before the apex. The female often shaded with blackish, the ground-colour having a tint of brass-colour or olive; the abdomen very heavy. 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) Melitaea varia MHNT CUT 2013 3 29 Cervières male dorsal.jpg, Male Melitaea varia MHNT CUT 2013 3 29 Cervières male ventral.jpg, Male underside Melitaea varia MHNT CUT 2013 3 29 Col de Granon female dorsal.jpg, Female Melitaea varia MHNT CUT 2013 3 29 Col de Granon female ventral.jpg, Female underside

Biology

There is one generation per year. The butterfly flies from June to August depending on the location. The larvae feed on various low-growing plants, including ''

Plantago alpina ''Plantago'' is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Plantaginaceae, commonly called plantains or fleaworts. The common name plantain is shared with the unrelated cooking plantain. Most are herbaceous plants, though ...

'', ''

Gentiana verna ''Gentiana verna'', the spring gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae, and one of its smallest members, normally only growing to a height of a few centimetres. The short stem supports up to three opposing pairs of e ...

'' and ''

Gentiana acaulis ''Gentiana acaulis'', the stemless gentian, or trumpet gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gentianaceae, native to central and southern Europe, from Spain east to the Balkans, growing especially in mountainous regions, such as ...

''.

References

External links

www.lepiforum.eu
- Photos
"''Melitaea'' Fabricius, 1807"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Fauna Europaea
Melitaea Butterflies of Europe Butterflies described in 1851 {{Nymphalinae-stub