Butterflies of
Europe
Lesser Spotted
Fritillary
Melitaea trivia
SCHIFFERMULLER, 1775
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - MELITAEINI
subtribe -
EUPHAEDRYINA
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Lesser Spotted Fritillary
Melitaea trivia, Velebit mountains,
Croatia
© Peter Bruce-Jones |
Introduction
The genus
Melitaea comprises of about 70 small-medium sized
butterflies - species which are only very distantly related the the larger
Fritillaries such as Argynnis and
Argyreus, which are members of the subfamily
Heliconiinae.
Melitaea are
distributed widely across the Palaearctic region from
Portugal and Spain to Tibet, China and Japan. There are 8 European
species, of which 4 extend their range into north Africa. A single species
abyssinica is found in Ethiopia, but the genus is
not represented south of the Sahara. The remaining species, i.e. the vast
majority, are inhabitants of the temperate grasslands, woodlands and mountain
valleys of central Asia.
Melitaea trivia is
found from Spain and Portugal, across central Europe to Tien Shan and Siberia.
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Lesser Spotted Fritillary
Melitaea trivia, Velebit mountains,
Croatia
© Peter Bruce-Jones |
Habitats
This is a
grassland / meadow species, found at elevations between sea level
and about 1500m.
Lifecycle
The larval
foodplants include Scrophularia,
Verbascum and
Eremostachys.
Adult behaviour
Both sexes visit
a wide range of herbaceous flowers for nectar. They roost
overnight on the flower-heads of plantains, thistles and grasses.
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