Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 20.xii.2023

Melitaea diamina / False Heath Fritillary
Krahporotfallikafta me kuti të zeza
Nymphalidae - Nymphalinae

Melitaea diamina (Lang, 1789). TL: Augsburg.

1a. Melitaea diamina, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Melitaea diamina ♂ upperside. Cerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Melitaea diamina ♂ upperside. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Melitaea diamina ♂ underside. SRB (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Habitat of Melitaea diamina. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Habitat of Melitaea diamina. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 19-21 mm.
Ups: dark brown gc almost covering full uph.
Uph: rarely, small pale marginal spots.
Unh: very contrasted pale gc with orange brown markings, pale spots in submarginal band bordered with darker external mark, double marginal lines fills yellow to orange.
♀♀
Slightly larger.
Ups: sligthly paler yellowish-orange, less dark brown markings.

Similar species

Melitaea diamina can be confused with dark forms of M. athalia.
Reliable identification is based on criteria unh.

Melitaea athalia Size:slightly smaller or similar. Ups: black markings iregular. Uph: orange marginal lunules. Unf: s1b, s2, s3 irregular sm lunules + heavy black internal border. Unh: pale in double marginal line, same color as in adjacent lunules. Unh: no dark spots in sm band. Melitaea aurelia P (never recorded from Albania) Size:smaller. Ups: heavy black markings regular and linear. Uph: orange marginal lunules. Unf: s1b, s2, s3 regular sm lunules + absent or weak black internal border. Unh: yellowish to yellow-orange in double marginal line, slightly darker than adjacent lunules. Unh: no dark spots in sm band.

Life cycle
Adults: single generation from June to July.
Egg: 10-20 days.
Caterpillar: overwintering in a nest in the litter layer.
Pupa: 3 weeks.

Habitat
Melitaea diamina inhabits damp grassland and alpine meadows from 800 up to 2000 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement low, population density can be high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Valeriana officinallis, Veronica chamaedrys, Plantago lanceolata and Persicaria bistorta. Also mentioned are Melampyrum nemorosum, Polygonum bistorta and Valeriana montana.
Butterflies often feed on flowers of the own foodplant.

Distribution
Albania: local in the Northern Albanian Alps (more research needed) and at the southern limit of its distribution range in the Balkan peninsula.
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
Melitaea diamina is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: VU.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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