''Melanargia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

belonging to the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

and the subfamily

Satyrinae The Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the browns, are a subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies). They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known divers ...

(formerly family Satyridae). This genus, described by

Johann Wilhelm Meigen Johann Wilhelm Meigen (3 May 1764 – 11 July 1845) was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera. Life Early years Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margare ...

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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Species and subspecies

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 ''Melanargia galathea'', the marbled white, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Despite its common name and appearance, this butterfly is one of the "browns", of the subfamily Satyrinae. This species can be found across most ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - marbled white ** ''Melanargia galathea'' ssp. ''galathea'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Europe) ** ''Melanargia galathea'' ssp. ''satnia'' Fruhstorfer, 1917 (

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

) ** ''Melanargia galathea'' ssp. ''magdalenae'' Reichl, 1975 ** ''Melanargia galathea'' ssp. ''syracusana'' Zeller, 1847 * '' Melanargia lucasi'' (Rambur, 1858) (northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

) ** ''Melanargia lucasi'' ssp. ''lucasi'' (Rambur, 1858) ** ''Melanargia lucasi'' ssp. ''meadwaldoi'' Rothschild, 1917 * '' Melanargia lachesis'' (Hübner, 1790) - Iberian marbled white * '' Melanargia evartianae'' (Wagener, 1976) (northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) ** ''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 hylata (Ménétriés, 1832) * '' Melanargia larissa'' (Geyer, 1828) - Balkan marbled white ** ''Melanargia larissa'' ssp. ''larissa'' (Geyer, 1828) ** ''Melanargia larissa'' ssp. ''hylata'' (Ménétriés, 1832) (

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

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 Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

) ** ''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 Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

) ** ''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 Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

and western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

) ** ''Melanargia leda'' ssp. ''leda'' (Leech, 1891) (=''yunnana'' Oberthür, 1891) ** ''Melanargia leda'' ssp. ''melli'' Wagener, 1961 * '' Melanargia halimede'' (Ménétriés, 1858) (eastern

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

, north-east of China and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

) ** ''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) (

) * '' Melanargia asiatica'' (Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922) (= ''dejeani'' Wagener, 1961, = ''elisa'' Wagener, 1961, = ''sigberti'' Bozano, 2004) (China)

Gallery

Satyrinae - Melanargia galathea-2.JPG, ''

'', lateral view Satyrinae - Melanargia galathea.091.JPG, ''

'' Melanargiaarge.JPG, '' Melanargia arge'' Melanargia ines M 2.jpg, '' Melanargia ines'' Melanargia lachesis Roussillon.jpg, '' Melanargia lachesis'' (MHNT) Melanargia occitanica - Atzenata Valencia - male dorsal.jpg, '' Melanargia occitanica'' Melanargia_russiae.jpg, '' Melanargia russiae'' Sitirit.jpg, '' Melanargia titea'' (''Melanargia larissa'' ssp. ''titea'')

References

"''Melanargia'' Meigen, 1828"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
BioLib.cz
* Nazari, V., Ten Hagen, W.,Bozano, G.C. 2010
Molecular systematics and phylogeny of the 'Marbled Whites' (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae, Satyrinae, Melanargia Meigen). ''Systematic Entomology'' 35: 132-147

External links

Satyrinae of the Western Palearctic
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1426661 Satyrini Nymphalidae genera Taxa named by Johann Wilhelm Meigen