Melanargia ines

Melanargia ines, the Spanish marbled white, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae.^[1] It can be found on the Iberian Peninsula and western North Africa.

Melanargia ines
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Melanargia
Species:	M. ines
Binomial name
Melanargia ines Hoffmannsegg, 1804
Synonyms
Papilio ines Hoffmannsegg, 1804 Melanargia maura Turati 1934 Satyrus sagarraria Querci, 1948 Melanargia semireducta Houlbert 1923.

The length of the forewings is 23–25 mm. Seitz- M. ines Hoffgg. (— thetis Hbn.) (39 e). Above similar to syllius, but the short transverse band of the forewing heavily black, placed exactly in the centre of the cell and not united with the black discocellular spot. On the hindwing beneath the ocelli are magnificently coloured, the sky-blue centre being successively encircled by russet-red, yellow and lilac rings, the costal ocelli of the upperside being always centred with blue.^[2]

Found on stony heights which are almost bare of vegetation excepting flowers. Abundant. The butterflies fly in one generation from May to June.

The larvae feed on various grasses such as Brachypodium pinnatum and Bromus madritensis.

References

1. "Melanargia Meigen, 1828" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

• Satyrinae of the Western Palearctic - Melanargia ines
• Butterflies of Europe