Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Melanargia galathea / Marbled White
Galatea
Nymphalidae - Satyrinae

Melanargie galathea (Linnaeus, 1758). TL: Germany.

1a. Melanargia galathea, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Melanargia galathea upperside. Abania (© Anila Paparisto)
1c. Melanargia galathea ♀ upperside. North of Mali i Korabit, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Melanargia galathea ♂ lateral. Kolesjan, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Melanargia galathea ♂ upperside. North of Mali i Korabit, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Melanargia galathea ♂ underside. SRB (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1g. Melanargia galathea ♀ underside forma leucomelas. Bulgaria (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1h. Melanargia galathea ♀ underside. North of Mali i Korabit, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 23-26 mm.
Ups: variable black and white patches, no dark suffused basal areas.
Upf: no isolated cross-bar in cell, white cell patch only on two-thirds towards the base.
Unh: grey-black markings, ocelli in discontinuous submarginal band, discal band widening towards costa.
♀♀
Larger.
Ups: markings similar as ♂♂.
Uns: pale yellow gc, yellow-grey markings. Unmarked with white gc, forma leucomelas, is not rare.

Similar species

Melanargia larissa Size:slightly larger. Upf: dark suffused basal areas. Upf: cell crossed by fine black line. Uph: dark suffused basal areas. Unh: unbroken central band. Unh: poorly marked veins in central band. Melanargia russiae Size:similar. Upf: no dark suffused basal areas. Upf: cell crossed by zig-zag black bar. Uph: no dark suffused basal areas. Unh: unbroken central band. Unh: black-marked veins in central band.

Life cycle
Adults: single generation from June to August.
Egg: 18-22 days.
Caterpillar: overwintering as small larva.
Pupa: 16-29 days.

Habitat
Melanargia galathea inhabits a large variety of grasslands from lowland up to 2000 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement modest, population density often high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Brachypodium pinnatum, B. sylvaticum, Bromus erecta, Cynosurus cristatus, Festuca ovina, F. rubra and Phleum pratense, also mentioned are Agrostis capillaris, Anthoxanthum odoratum, Arrhenatherum elatius, Avenula pubescens, Dactylis glomerata, Holcus lanatus, Poa annua and P. trivialis.
Butterflies feed on a large variety of flowers, often on knapweed.

Distribution
Albania: widespread in the mountains.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB* - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE* - UK* - SCA* - EEU
Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Melanargia galathea is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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