Knapweed Fritillary

Melitaea phoebe

The Knapweed Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in the Palearctic ecozone, except the Northernmost locations. It used to include "Melitaea telona", recently revalidated as a distinct cryptic species.
Melitaea phoebe x2 in the often neglected 'truffle plantation' behind our home in the Dordogne. Lucky me, the farmer was most of the time to lazy to cut the hay. This resulted in a wealth of insect life. This wiki page is much better than the English one https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mélitée_des_centaurées France,Geotagged,Knapweed Fritillary,Melitaea phoebe,Mélitée des centaurées,Nymphalidae,Nymphalinae,Spring,butterfly,grand damier,insect,knapweed fritillary,mariposa

Appearance

The wingspan is 34–50 mm. The butterfly flies from April to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on "Plantago" and "Centaurea" species.

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyNymphalidae
GenusMelitaea
SpeciesM. phoebe
Photographed in
Bulgaria
France
Italy
Portugal