Melanargia titea, the Levantine marbled white, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.

Levantine marbled white
Scientific classification
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M. titea
Binomial name
Melanargia titea
(Klug, 1832)[2]

Distribution edit

It is found in Syria, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Armenia, Lebanon, Iran and Turkey.

Description edit

The wingspan is about 55 mm. Adults are on wing from April to June.[3]

The larvae feed on Gramineae and Poaceae species.

Subspecies edit

  • Melanargia titea titea
  • Melanargia titea wiskotti (Röber, 1896) (Turkey)

Taxonomy edit

Recent research suggest Melanargia titea is in fact a subspecies of Melanargia larissa, while Melanargia titea wiskotti is raised to full-species rank.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ van Swaay, C.; Wynhoff, I.; Wiemers, M.; Katbeh-Bader, A.; Power, A.; Benyamini, D.; Tzirkalli, E.; Balletto, E.; Monteiro, E.; Karaçetin, E.; Franeta, F.; Pe'er, G.; Welch, H.; Thompson, K.; Pamperis, L.; Dapporto, L.; Šašić, M.; López Munguira, M.; Micevski, N.; Dupont, P.; Garcia-Pereira, P.; Moulai, R.; Caruana, R.; Verovnik, R.; Bonelli, S.; Beshkov, S. (2015). "Melanargia titea". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T62148584A62152854. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T62148584A62152854.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Melanargia Meigen, 1828" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  3. ^ treknature
  4. ^ Molecular systematics and phylogeny of the ‘Marbled Whites’ (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Melanargia Meigen) Archived 2012-10-07 at the Wayback Machine