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Melitaea phoebe (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)   Knapweed Fritillary  12



 The  Melitaea phoebe species complex has been the   /LIH  KLVWRU\  bivoltine to trivoltine. Eggs are laid in
 subject of recent studies and its systematic position   clusters of dozens on the underside of the hostplant’s
 clarified (van Oorschot & Coutsis, 2014; Russell &   lower leaves. The egg is cream, becoming yellow, oval-
 Tennent, 2016; Russell, 2018). The most widespread   shaped with 15 longitudinal ribs, hatching after 6-20
 #
 ‘Knapweed-type’ fritillary in the Levant is  Melitaea   days. The young larvae are gregarious and live in a silken
 "telona"  Fruhstorfer, 1908 TL. Jerusalem, Israel (see   web. As with adults, larval coloration is variable but all   ©  Adam Warecki
 species’ complex entry). M. phoebe is restricted to the   instars have a glossy black head. At L3, final brood
 north-western Levant strip. Flies in open grassy areas,   larvae overwinter in small groups among dry leaves of
 moist biotopes, open forests and forest meadows. This   the hostplant, resuming feeding the following spring and
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 12 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Magenta
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 12 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Yellow
 #21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 12 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Black
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 12 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Cyan
 complex super-species is widely distributed, with  M.   dispersing in the final instar prior to pupating near the
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 phoebe and M. ornata / M. telona complex often in mixed   ground. Pupae hatch after 2-4 weeks (Lafranchis et al.,                         HJJ  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12
                       lar v a
 populations. Across its distribution and influenced also   2015: 464-465; Warecki, 2010: 111 & pers. comm. to            pupa
 by altitude and season, populations may vary in colour   DB).
 from orange to reddish-orange, sometimes rusty or
 white and brown, with extensive black markings. Tends   5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV  Acanthaceae – Acanthus syriacus;   2nd gen.  2nd gen.
 to be local; males are territorialists, puddlers and feed   Asteraceae –  Carduus,  Centaurea & Onopordum spp.,   ©  Wolfgang Wagner  ©  Wolfgang Wagner
 on animal droppings. In his pre-military training at the   Cynara syriaca [?] - illustr. 2, Onopordum carduiforme [?]
 former RAF St Jean base N. Acre, Israel, DB recorded   and Scolymus maculatus [?]; Plantaginaceae - Plantago
 phoebe in the spring/summer of 1958 and 1959. First   spp. in Lebanon and Hatay (Larsen, 1974: 123; Atahan   © Dubi Benyamini
 brood adults appeared in 6-8.4.58 and 27-30.4.59.   et al., 2018: 69).
 Larvae of the second brood (black-headed L5s) were
 found on  Acanthus syriacus ***(Acanthaceae)  in mid-        1
 May 1959 (Benyamini, 1990a: 126), it pupated and   'LVWULEXWLRQ  Israel, 3 km N of Acre,   Israel, 3 km N of Acre,
                                       St Jean sl. 26.5.1958
               St Jean sl. 25.5.1959
 hatched between 25.5–1.6.1959, confirming the past
 occurrence of phoebe in northern coastal Israel – illustr.   TL: Vienna, Austria.  M. phoebe has a patchy isolated   ©  Wolfgang Wagner
 1. RAF St Jean is now a ruined and “erased” camp with   ecological distribution from W France and Spain, across
 limited access; however, in mid-May 2018, and early   Europe and the Middle East to Mongolia and W Siberia.   possibly the real LHP of M. phoebe in this biotope
 April 2021 no A. syriacus* were observed among Cynara   In the Levant, it reaches its southernmost limit of
 syriaca** -illustr. 2 (common & dominant),  Scolymus   distribution in coastal northern Israel, 3 km N of Acre,
 maculatus (common), Centaurea iberica** (uncommon   Lat. 32º57’51’’ N, a southern extension from NW Hatay
 on the beach) and Onopordum carduiforme** (rare) all   along the Levant coast; from sea level to 2000 m in the
 (Asteraceae); are these additional hostplants of phoebe   Lebanon and N Anti-Lebanon Mt chains.
 in coastal NE Mediterranean?  DB still does not know if
 the newly described polyvoltine Melitaea klili Benyamini,    Turky, Silitke, Aydinik, 250 m. 22.4.1984
 2021  that flies only 25 km east of the western Galilee                                                  2
 coast line in the wet biotopes of Karmiel valley can reach       ©  Wolfgang Wagner                © Dubi Benyamini
 the coast and overlap with M. phoebe.
 *-A. syriacus appear in the distribution map of Avinoam
 Danin’s website (Flora of Israel online) as present on the
 Mediterranean coast N Acre, supporting DB LHP’s first
 determination.
 **- known as LHPs of M. phoebe / M. ornata elsewhere.
 Onopordum bracteatum Boiss. & Helder was reported
 as an hostplant of  Melitaea ornata (telona) in N   Turky, Silitke, Aydinik, 250 m. 22.4.1984
 Peloponnesus by Lafranchis (2019), where “a last-instar
 larva was observed eating a basal leaf” of this LHP.    ©  Wolfgang Wagner
 *** - Dr. Ori Fragman-Sapir, the curator of the Jerusalem
 botanical garden opined that if DB identified A. syriacus
 in the 1950’s based on the leaves rosette  (rather than                                              © Eddie John
 its flowers) than he possibly mis-identified it with the
 similar rosette of Scolymus maculatus.
 %LRORJ\
 )OLJKW SHULRG  on the coast, from early April to early July
 in two successive broods, at higher elevations from mid-
 June to early August. A third ‘less numerous’ brood was
 reported from Lebanon by Larsen (1974: 123) in August/
 September; June, single record in Hatay (Atahan et al.,
 2018: 69).
 © Eddie John                                     © Dubi Benyamini                                    © Eddie John
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 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   184  12/30/2021   4:28:53 PM  2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   185  12/30/2021   4:28:57 PM
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