Melanargia larissa, the Balkan marbled white, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found from south-eastern Europe (Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece) and Asia Minor to Transcaucasia and north-western Iran."Melanargia Meigen, 1828" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms The habitat consists of dry grasslands, scrubby hillsides and grassy woodland glades.A new subspecies of Melanargia larissa from Turkey Adults are on wing from mid-May to July in one generation per year.euroButterflies
The wingspan is about 52 mm. The nymotypical form larissa Hbn. (38f) is easily recognized by the strongly sooty blackening of the bases of the wings, only the cell having some light places left. The forms allied to larissa can be separated from the japygia- forms only withdifficulty and some arbitrariness. The transverse cell-bar of the forewing is not so close to the centre of the cell, being apparently a little shifted towards the apex of the same, and the median band of the hindwing has a somewhat different position, but also varies rather considerably. The countries inhabited by the forms of larissa are more or less grouped around the Black Sea, while the distribution area of the japygia -forms encircles that of larissa in a wide arch.Seitz. A. in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)
The larvae feed on Brachypodium species.Captain's European Butterfly Guide
Subspecies Melanargia larissa larissa Melanargia larissa grumi Standfuss, 1892 Melanargia larissa hylata (Ménétriés, 1832) (Turkey and Iran) Melanargia larissa iranica Seitz, 1907 Melanargia larissa karabagi Koçak, 1976 (Turkey) Melanargia larissa kocaki Wagener, 1983 Melanargia larissa lorestanensis Carbonell & Naderi, 2007 Melanargia larissa massageta Staudinger, 1901 Melanargia larissa syriaca Oberthur, 1894 Melanargia larissa taurica Rober, 1896 Melanargia larissa titea Klug, 1832
Etymology Larissa (Greek) - Larissa, a city in Thessaly
References