000000 623901 7A7A00 AA9159 C1AD18 F1D8A0 FF8B00 FFFFFD

Mellicta varia

Posted by
Johan Dierckx (Wijnegem, Belgium) on 14 September 2012 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

Mellicta varia (NL: Alpenparelmoervlinder / EN: Grisons Fritillary / DE: Bündner Scheckenfalter / FR: Mélitée de la gentiane, Mélitée alpine) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is a high altitude species (It is found in the Alps on heights of 1.500 to 2.600 meters, especially in the Swiss cantons Valais, Engadin and Graubünden) and so shares some of the usual attributes of Butterflies which live in mountain ranges: it is a small Butterfly (the wingspan is 24-28 mm.) with more delicate markings. Also there are frequently occurring dark forms particularly in the female, which is a side effect of the pupa being kept very cold over the winter.

Note: In the new European taxonomy, the Mellicta fritillaries are now grouped with the Melitaea genus, so this species now has the scientific name Melitaea varia. Because this new name is not yet fully supported and the field guides use the older name, I prefer to keep Mellicta varia for a while.

Image: Tschierv (CH) – 13/07/2012

Canon EOS 400D 1/125 second F/5.6 ISO 200 150 mm

© Johan Dierckx

The photos on this site are copyrighted, which prohibits anyone to use them to sell, give away, use in email or newsgroups, use in a homepage or otherwise showing to the public without my explicit, prior, written permission. Please feel free to use the "contact"-button below to contact me with any questions.

All species are photographed in their natural habitat, without cutting or capturing them, and with maximal respect and the least possible disturbance to the environment.

(To see species in the same taxonomic rank (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus), please use the tags provided with the image. The last tag is the Iso-code for the country where the image was taken. Image-date in DD/MM/YYYY format.)


Please feel free to visit my personal website http://www.diversitasnaturae.be/

Christine from Ellemford, United Kingdom

Excellent, I don't think I have ever seen a view like this of a butterfly

14 Sep 2012 6:43am

Grigore from Bucuresti, Romania

Wonderful image! I think you have many admirers on this picture! Nice shot!

14 Sep 2012 7:25am

Aubélia from Kortrijk, Belgium

Je hebt deze vlinder prachtig in beeld gebracht. Ik wens je een aangename dag.

14 Sep 2012 7:29am

Aigleloup from Rebecq, Belgium

Hello Johan, I discovered this butterfly. Your picture is superb.

14 Sep 2012 10:01am

omid from mashhad, Iran

very nice & amazing!
so beautiful colors!!!!

14 Sep 2012 11:52am

Sof from Neuchâtel, Switzerland

superbe macro

14 Sep 2012 7:19pm

Heather J Snider from Ayr ON, Canada

Wow!

1 Oct 2012 1:22pm

This image has been featured in 1 Remix collection.

Macro's by Christine

Canon EOS 400D
1/125 second
F/5.6
ISO 200
150 mm

animalia
arthropoda
insecta
lepidoptera
nymphalidae
mellicta
ch