Melanargia

Melanargia
Melanargia
Melanargia galathea, dorsal view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae
Tribe: Satyrini
Subtribe: Melanargiina
Genus: Melanargia
Johann Wilhelm 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
Melanargia galathea, lateral view

Melanargia is a genus of butterflies of the subfamily Satyrinae tribe Satyrini subtribe Melanargiina belonging to the family Nymphalidae.

This genus, described by Johann Wilhelm Meigen in 1828, is the only genus in the subtribe Melanargiina, Wheeler, 1903. Once the genus Melanargia was classified as belonging to Satyridae.

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.

List of 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 (Linnaeus, 1758) - Marbled White
    • Melanargia galathea ssp. galathea (Linnaeus, 1758) – in 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 stat. rev.
  • Melanargia lachesis (H¨ubner, 1790) - Iberian Marbled White
  • Melanargia evartianae Wagener, 1976 – northern of Iran.
    • Melanargia evartianae ssp. evartianae Wagener, 1976
    • Melanargia evartianae ssp. sadjadii Carbonell & Naderi, 2006 stat. nov.
  • 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) stat. nov. – in Turkey and Iran.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. grumi Standfuss, 1892 stat. nov.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. lorestanensis Carbonell & Naderi, 2007 stat. nov.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. iranica Seitz, 1907 stat. nov.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. taurica (Rober, 1896)
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. massageta Staudinger, 1901
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. karabagi Koc¸ak, 1976 stat. rev.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. kocaki Wagener, 1983 stat. nov.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. syriaca (Oberth¨ur, 1894) stat. nov.
    • Melanargia larissa ssp. titea (Klug, 1832) stat. nov. (= titania Calberla, 1891 syn. nov., = standfussi Wagener, 1983 syn. nov.)
  • Melanargia wiskotii Rober, 1896 stat. nov.
  • Melanargia russiae (Esper, 1783) - Esper's Marbled White - in 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) stat. nov.
    • Melanargia transcaspica ssp. transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901) stat. nov.
    • Melanargia transcaspica ssp. eberti Wagener, 1975 stat. nov.
  • Melanargia parce Staudinger, 1882
  • Melanargia lucida (Staudinger, 1886) stat. Nov.

Subgenus Argeformia Verity, 1953

  • Melanargia occitanica (Esper, 1793) - Western Marbled White - in the southwest 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 - in Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
    • Melanargia ines ssp. ines (Hoffmannsegg, 1804)
    • Melanargia ines ssp. fathme Wagner, 1913 stat. rev.
    • Melanargia ines ssp. jahandiezi Oberth¨ur, 1922 stat. rev.
  • Melanargia arge (Sulzer, 1776) - Italian Marbled White - in Italy


Subgenus Halimede (Oberth¨ur & Houlbert, 1922)

  • Melanargia leda Leech, 1891 - Tibet and western China.
    • Melanargia leda ssp. leda (Leech, 1891) (=yunnana Oberth¨ur, 1891 syn. nov.)
    • Melanargia leda ssp. melli Wagener, 1961
  • Melanargia halimede (Ménétriés, 1858) – in eastern Mongolia, north-east of China and Korea.
    • Melanargia halimede ssp. halimede (Ménétriés, 1858) (=gratiani Wagener, 1961 syn. nov.)
    • Melanargia halimede ssp. coreana Okamoto, 1926*
  • Melanargia meridionalis Felder, 1862 – central and western China.
    • Melanargia meridionalis ssp. meridionalis (C. & R. Felder, 1862)

b. Melanargia meridionalis ssp. tapaishanensis Wagener, 1961 stat. rev.

  • Melanargia lugens Honrath, 1888 – central China.
    • Melanargia lugens ssp. lugens (Honrath, 1888) (= ahyoui Wagener, 1961 syn. nov.)
    • Melanargia lugens ssp. hengshanensis Wagener, 1961 (= hoenei Wagener, 1961 syn. nov.)
    • Melanargia lugens ssp. montana (Leech, 1890) stat. nov.
  • Melanargia epimede Staudinger, 1892 – in 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 stat. nov. - Tibet.
  • Melanargia asiatica (Oberthür & Houlbert, 1922) (= dejeani Wagener, 1961 syn. nov., = elisa Wagener, 1961 syn. nov., = sigberti Bozano, 2004 syn. Nov.) - in China

Gallery

References

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