Melanargia genus of butterflies belonging to the family Nymphalidae and the subfamily Satyrinae (formerly family Satyridae).
Quick Facts Melanargia, Scientific classification ...
Melanargia
Melanargia galathea
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Nymphalidae
Subfamily:
Satyrinae
Tribe:
Satyrini
Subtribe:
Melanargiina Wheeler , 1903
Genus:
Melanargia Meigen , 1828
Synonyms
Agapetes Billberg, 1820 Arge Hübner, 1819 Ledargia Houlbert, 1922 Epimede Houlbert, 1922 Parce Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922 Halimede Oberthür et Houlbert, 1922 Lachesis Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922
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Melanargia galathea , lateral viewThis genus, described by Johann Wilhelm Meigen in 1828, is the only genus in the subtribe Melanargiina , Wheeler, 1903.
The adults of this genus of satyrines are easily distinguished by their white wings with black veins and markings (hence the common name "marbled whites"). A peculiar phenotypic distinctiveness is also a dilated vein 12 at the base of the forewing.
Butterflies of genus Melanargia are widespread from Europe and north Africa to Japan .
The investigations on genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationships among Melanargia species have recognized three subgenera (Melanargia , Argeformia , and Halimede ) and reclassified the genus in 20 species and relevant subspecies as follows
Subgenus Melanargia Meigen, 1829
Melanargia galathea (Linnaeus, 1758) - marbled white
Melanargia galathea ssp. galathea (Linnaeus, 1758) (Europe)Melanargia galathea ssp. satnia Fruhstorfer, 1917 (Caucasus )Melanargia galathea ssp. magdalenae Reichl, 1975 Melanargia galathea ssp. syracusana Zeller, 1847 Melanargia lucasi (Rambur, 1858) (northern Africa )
Melanargia lucasi ssp. lucasi (Rambur, 1858) Melanargia lucasi ssp. meadwaldoi Rothschild, 1917 Melanargia lachesis (Hübner, 1790) - Iberian marbled whiteMelanargia evartianae Wagener, 1976 (northern Iran )
Melanargia evartianae ssp. evartianae Wagener, 1976 Melanargia evartianae ssp. sadjadii Carbonell & Naderi, 2006 Melanargia teneates (Ménétriés, 1832) (northern Iran)
Melanargia teneates ssp. teneates (Ménétriés, 1832) Melanargia teneates ssp. meda (Grum-Grshimailo, 1895) Melanargia larissa (Geyer, 1828) - Balkan marbled white
Melanargia larissa ssp. larissa (Geyer, 1828) Melanargia larissa ssp. hylata (Ménétriés, 1832) (Turkey and Iran)Melanargia larissa ssp. grumi Standfuss, 1892 Melanargia larissa ssp. lorestanensis Carbonell & Naderi, 2007 Melanargia larissa ssp. iranica Seitz, 1907 Melanargia larissa ssp. taurica (Rober, 1896) Melanargia larissa ssp. massageta Staudinger, 1901 Melanargia larissa ssp. karabagi Koçak, 1976 Melanargia larissa ssp. kocaki Wagener, 1983 Melanargia larissa ssp. syriaca (Oberthür, 1894) Melanargia larissa ssp. titea (Klug, 1832) (= titania Calberla, 1891 , = standfussi Wagener, 1983 )Melanargia wiskotii Rober, 1896 Melanargia russiae (Esper, 1783) - Esper's marbled white (southern Europe to central Asia)
Melanargia russiae ssp. russiae (Esper, 1793) Melanargia russiae ssp. cleanthe (Boisduval, 1833) Melanargia russiae ssp. japygia (Cyrillo, 1787) Melanargia transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901)
Melanargia transcaspica ssp. transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901) Melanargia transcaspica ssp. eberti Wagener, 1975 Melanargia parce Staudinger, 1882 Melanargia lucida (Staudinger, 1886) Subgenus Argeformia Verity, 1953
Melanargia occitanica (Esper, 1793) - western marbled white (south-west of Europe, northern Africa and Sicily )
Melanargia occitanica ssp. occitanica (Esper, 1793) Melanargia occitanica ssp. pelagia (Oberthur, 1911) Melanargia occitanica ssp. pherusa (Boisduval, 1832) Melanargia ines (Hoffmannsegg, 1804) - Spanish marbled white (Portugal , Spain , Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia and Libya )
Melanargia ines ssp. ines (Hoffmannsegg, 1804) Melanargia ines ssp. fathme Wagner, 1913 Melanargia ines ssp. jahandiezi Oberthür, 1922 Melanargia arge (Sulzer, 1776) - Italian marbled white (Italy)Subgenus Halimede (Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922)
Melanargia leda Leech, 1891 (Tibet and western China )
Melanargia leda ssp. leda (Leech, 1891) (=yunnana Oberthür, 1891 )Melanargia leda ssp. melli Wagener, 1961 Melanargia halimede (Ménétriés, 1858) (eastern Mongolia , north-east of China and Korea )
Melanargia halimede ssp. halimede (Ménétriés, 1858) (=gratiani Wagener, 1961 )Melanargia halimede ssp. coreana Okamoto, 1926 Melanargia meridionalis Felder, 1862 (central and western China)
Melanargia meridionalis ssp. meridionalis (C. & R. Felder, 1862) Melanargia meridionalis ssp. tapaishanensis Wagener, 1961 Melanargia lugens Honrath, 1888 (central China)
Melanargia lugens ssp. lugens (Honrath, 1888) (= ahyoui Wagener, 1961 )Melanargia lugens ssp. hengshanensis Wagener, 1961 (= hoenei Wagener, 1961 )Melanargia lugens ssp. montana (Leech, 1890) Melanargia epimede Staudinger, 1892 (eastern Mongolia, north-east of China and Korea)
Melanargia epimede ssp. epimede (Staudinger, 1887) Melanargia epimede ssp. pseudolugens (Staudinger, 1887) Melanargia epimede ssp. ganymedes Heyne, 1895 (Tibet )Melanargia asiatica (Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922) (= dejeani Wagener, 1961 , = elisa Wagener, 1961 , = sigberti Bozano, 2004 ) (China)
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