Melitaea didyma

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Nymphalidae

'The Nymphalidae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Distributed worldwide, butterflies of this family are especially rich in the tropics. They are highly variable, and there are more species in this family than in any other. Adults vary in size from small to large, and their front legs are reduced, unable to be used for walking. Wing shape is also highly variable: some species have irregular margins (anglewings and commas), and others have long taillike projections (daggerwings). Browns, oranges, yellows, and blacks are frequent colors, while iridescent colors such as purples and blues are rare. Adults of some groups are the longest-lived butterflies, surviving 6-11 months. Adult feeding behavior depends on the species, where some groups primarily seek flower nectar while others only feed on sap flows , rotting fruit, dung, or animal carcasses. Males exhibit perching and patrolling behaviors when seeking mates. Egg-laying varies widely, as some species lay eggs in clustsers, others in columns, and others singly. Caterpillar appearance and behavior vary widely. Brushfoots overwinter as larvae or adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Nymphalinae

Brushfoots are the most prevalent members of the Family Nymphalinae. Distributed worldwide, this is a diverse group that contains several tribes , each with somewhat different structural and biological features. Adults of North American species are predominantly orange, brown, and black. Wing shape and mating systems are variable. Most checkerspots and crescentspots patrol for mates, while the remainder of groups exhibit either perching or perching and patrolling . Migration varies widely; some strong migrants are found in the lady butterflies, tortoiseshells, and anglewings, while other species are local in occurrence. Most species limit their host plants to a few species, but the Painted Lady has one of the widest host palettes of all butterflies. Eggs are laid singly or clustered in groups, and caterpillars be found feeding alone or communally. Brushfoots overwinter as young caterpillars or hibernating adults.[2]

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,037 meters (0 to 9,964 feet).[3]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Melitaea

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 14 species and subspecies in this genus:

M. asteria (Little Fritillary) · M. athalia (Heath Fritillary) · M. cinxia (Glanville Fritillary) · M. cinxia cinxia (Glanville Fritillary) · M. diamina (False Heath Fritillary) · M. diamina diamina (False Heath Fritillary) · M. didyma (Red-Banded Fritillary) · M. didyma didyma (Red-Banded Fritillary) · M. parthenoides (Meadow Fritillary) · M. phoebe (Knapweed Fritillary) · M. phoebe phoebe (Knapweed Fritillary) · M. trivia (Lesser Spotted Fritillary) · M. trivia trivia (Lesser Spotted Fritillary) · M. varia (Grisons Fritillary)

More Info

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Further Reading

• Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 452.
• Annual report / Albany: University of the State of New York, 1902-1918. url p. 68.
• Bibliography (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) / Charles A. Bridges. Urbana, Ill.: C.A. Bridges, c1993. url p. 15, p. 437.
• British journal of entomology and natural history. [London]: British Entomological and Natural History Society, 1988- url p. 20, p. 226, p. 28, p. 95.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) url p. 22, p. 6.
• Butterflies. Vol. I-II. / Calcutta and Simla, Taylor and Francis;1905-1907. url p. 451.
• Catalogue of scientific papers (1800-1900) Comp. by the Royal society of London. Cambridge, C. J. Clay and sons, 1867-1902; url p. 530, p. 681.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. Compiled by the Royal Society of London. London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1867-1902 [etc.] Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1914-25. url p. 530.
• International catalogue of scientific literature. LondonPublished for the International Council by the Royal Society of London1901-1920 url p. 163, p. 317, p. 626.
• Jenaische Zeitschrift für Naturwissenschaft. Jena, Gustav Fischer [etc.]. url p. 143.
• Journal of genetics. Cambridge: University Press, 1910-1977. url p. 81.
• Keys to the insects of the European USSR. (Opredelitel nasekomykh Evropeiskoi chasti SSSR) Compiled by G. Ya. Bei-Bienko [and others] Editorial board: B.E. Bykhovskii [and others] Translated from Russian [by] Jean Salkind. Edited by O. Theodor] Jerusalem: Israel Program for Scientific Translations; [available from U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Va.], 1967- url p. 686.
• Larva collecting and breeding: a handbook to the larvae of the British Macro-Lepidoptera and their food plants: both in nature and in confinement, with authorities / by J. Seymour St. John. London: W. Wesley, 1890 url p. 3.
• Monitore zoologico italiano. [Siena]: Instituto anatomico della R. Università di Siena, [1890-1988] url p. 191, p. 60.
• Museum bulletin / New York State Museum. Albany, N.Y.: University of the State of New York, 1908-1916. url p. 68.
• Polskie pismo entomologiczne = Polish journal of entomology = Bulletin entomologique de Pologne Warszawa [etc.]Panstwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. url p. 77.
• Proceedings and transactions of the British Entomological and Natural History Society. London, British Entomological and Natural History Society. url , p. 105, p. 14, p. 20, p. 21, p. 23, p. 56, p. 78, p. 9, p. 99.
• Proceedings of the South London Entomological & Natural History Society. London [Eng]: South London Entomological and Natural history Society, [1897-1933] url , p. 100, p. 105, p. 122, p. 123, p. 146, p. 36, p. 88, p. 93.
• Science-gossip. Berlin: R. Friedländer & Sohn, [1894]-1902. url p. 243.
• The Entomologist's monthly magazine. Oxford [etc.]Entomologist's Monthly Magazine Ltd. [etc.] url p. 23, p. 247.
• The Entomologist's record and journal of variation. s.l., s.n. url , , , , , , p. 10, p. 100, p. 101, p. 102, p. 103, p. 103, p. 104, p. 104, p. 104, p. 105, p. 105, p. 107, p. 109, p. 11, p. 11, p. 11, p. 11, p. 110, p. 111, p. 111, p. 113, p. 120, p. 122, p. 123, p. 123, p. 124, p. 125, p. 125, p. 126, p. 126, p. 126, p. 127, p. 127, p. 127, p. 13, p. 13, p. 13, p. 131, p. 131, p. 131, p. 134, p. 135, p. 137, p. 138, p. 139, p. 139, p. 139, p. 14, p. 14, p. 144, p. 150, p. 150, p. 151, p. 154, p. 155, p. 162, p. 166, p. 168, p. 171, p. 171, p. 172, p. 172, p. 173, p. 174, p. 177, p. 178, p. 18, p. 186, p. 187, p. 189, p. 19, p. 191, p. 192, p. 194, p. 196, p. 197, p. 20, p. 202, p. 204, p. 205, p. 207, p. 208, p. 208, p. 208, p. 216, p. 222, p. 225, p. 225, p. 228, p. 228, p. 228, p. 229, p. 229, p. 232, p. 234, p. 238, p. 24, p. 246, p. 246, p. 250, p. 251, p. 257, p. 26, p. 260, p. 260, p. 260, p. 261, p. 261, p. 263, p. 268, p. 269, p. 273, p. 275, p. 276, p. 278, p. 280, p. 281, p. 281, p. 282, p. 283, p. 283, p. 283, p. 287, p. 288, p. 29, p. 290, p. 291, p. 294, p. 3, p. 3, p. 30, p. 30, p. 30, p. 301, p. 307, p. 31, p. 310, p. 310, p. 312, p. 313, p. 317, p. 319, p. 319, p. 319, p. 319, p. 321, p. 33, p. 335, p. 34, p. 34, p. 34, p. 35, p. 35, p. 350, p. 358, p. 358, p. 36, p. 38, p. 39, p. 39, p. 39, p. 4, p. 40, p. 40, p. 41, p. 43, p. 45, p. 47, p. 47, p. 50, p. 51, p. 53, p. 53, p. 54, p. 54, p. 55, p. 55, p. 56, p. 56, p. 56, p. 56, p. 57, p. 57, p. 57, p. 58, p. 6, p. 6, p. 60, p. 61, p. 61, p. 61, p. 62, p. 63, p. 63, p. 65, p. 67, p. 68, p. 68, p. 7, p. 72, p. 72, p. 73, p. 79, p. 8, p. 8, p. 8, p. 8, p. 82, p. 82, p. 82, p. 82, p. 86, p. 86, p. 86, p. 88, p. 89, p. 90, p. 92, p. 97, p. 98, p. 99.
• The Entomologist. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., [1877- url p. 137.
• The Lepidopterists' news: the monthly newsletter of the Lepidopterists' Society. Cambridge, Mass.: Lepidopterists' Society, 1947-1958. url p. 80.
• The Macrolepidoptera of the world; a systematic description of the hitherto known Macrolepidoptera, ed. in collaboration with well-known specialists. Stuttgart: Seitz'schen (Kernen), 1906- url p. 218, p. 231.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng., etc.: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, etc. url p. 400.
• Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. London, The Society. url , , , , , , , , .

Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 17, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 26, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 6 providers.
• LepIndex: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• The Global Lepidoptera Names Index2, 12.2, 2005.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 26, 2008:

• Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen: Biologiezentrum Linz
• European Environment Agency: EUNIS
• GBIF-Spain: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid; Lepidópteros
• inatura - Erlebnis Naturschau Dornbirn
• Institute of Nature Conservation PAS: Bumblebees, cuckoobees and butterflies
• Nicolaus Copernicus University of Torun: The Distribution Atlas of Butterflies in Poland
• SysTax
• SysTax: Lobbecke Museum Dusseldorf

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2963778
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Lep-155490.0
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 631656

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=18&sci=Nymphalidae&com=Brush-footed Butterflies [back]
2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Editha&search=Search [back]
3. Mean = 669.520 meters (2,196.588 feet), Standard Deviation = 518.180 based on 964 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.