Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 14.iv.2024

Melitaea didyma / Spotted Fritillary
Kuqaloshja
Nymphalidae - Nymphalinae

Melitaea didyma (Esper, [1778]). TL: Bavaria.

1a. Melitaea didyma, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Melitaea didyma ♂ upperside. Valikardhë, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Melitaea didyma ♂ upperside. Greece (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Melitaea didyma ♂ upperside. Zhulaz Gjirokaster, Albania (© Anila Paparisto)
1e. Melitaea didyma ♀ upperside. Tudis, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Melitaea didyma ♀ upperside. Albania (© Anila Paparisto)
1g. Melitaea didyma ♂ underside. Mali i Thatë (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 20-22 mm.
Ups: bright orange red gc, postdiscal spots rarely present.
Uph: bold black submarginal dots.
Unh: rounded marginal spots, lower discoidal vein absent.
♀♀
Slightly larger.
Ups: variable dark grey suffusion.

Similar species

Melitaea trivia Size:smaller Melitaea. ♂♂ Ups: orange gc. Upf: fully enclosed orange marginal lunules. Uph: fully enclosed orange marginal lunules. Unh: triangular marginal spots. ♀♀ Ups: bichrome gc, basal diffuse suffusion. Upf: fully enclosed orange marginal lunules. Uph: fully enclosed orange marginal lunules. Unh: triangular marginal spots.

Life cycle
Adults: up to three generations, depending on altitude, from lowland up to 1800 m a.s.l.
Egg: 8 days.
Caterpillar: overwintering as small larva on an unsheltered wilted inflorescence.
Pupa: 12-18 days.

Habitat
Melitaea didyma inhabits sunny, dry open grasslands with abundant flowers and open areas in forests or scrubland from lowland up to 1800 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement considerable, population density often high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Stachys recta, Plantago lanceolata, P. media, P. major, P. subulata, P. bellardii, Linaria vulgaris, Melampyrum arvense, Misopates orontium, Veronica austriaca, V. chamaedrys, Valeriana montana, V. officinalis, Verbascum lychnitis, V. nigrum and V. thapsus. Also mentioned are Achillea millefolium, Antirrhinum majus, Centaurea paniculata, C. scabiosa, Cymbalaria muralis, Digitalis grandiflora, D. purpurea, Linaria alpina, L. genistifolia, L. peloponnesiaca, Melittis melissophyllum, Odontites lutea, P. bellardii, P. coronopus and Rhinanthus angustifolius.
Butterflies feed on a larg variety of flowers.

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

Conservation status
Melitaea didyma 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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