You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (August 2018) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the French article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing French Wikipedia article at [[:fr:Mélitée des centaurées]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|fr|Mélitée des centaurées}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Knapweed fritillary[1]
Male
Female
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Melitaea
Species:	M. phoebe
Binomial name
Melitaea phoebe (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775)[1]
Synonyms[1]
Papilio phoebe Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775

Melitaea phoebe, also known as the knapweed fritillary,^[1] is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.^[2] It is found in the Palearctic realm, including most of Europe and North Africa, excluding the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Previously, it also included Melitaea telona, which was recently revalidated as a distinct cryptic species.^{[citation needed]}

M. phoebe butterflies have a wingspan of 34 to 50 mm. Their forewings are more pointed than the eastern knapweed fritillary, but are equally variable in color and distinctive markings. Their black markings are usually joined, but may instead cover a majority of the wing or very little of it.

The species features a reddish-yellow submarginal lunate (crescent-shaped) spot between the two median veins that reaches its vertex, considerably farther into the disc than the other yellow lunate spots. This pattern is present on both the forewings and the hindwings. Additionally, the submarginal lunule between the 1st and 2nd median veins projects farther basal than the other lunules of the same row.^[3] Wheeler (1903) gives a short description.^[4]

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  Male
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  Male underside
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  Female
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  Female underside

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  Pupa
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  Larva
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  Larva

M. phoebe pupa are a dull yellow-brown colour, with dark yellow and black markings. The larvae are grey with a black head, soft red-brown branched thorns, blackish dorsal lines, and numerous small white dots.^[3]

M. phoebe is active from April to September, depending on the location. The larvae feed on Plantago and Centaurea species (including Centaurea jacea).^{[citation needed]}

M. phoebe is present throughout Europe except for the northern regions such as England, Ireland, Northern France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Belgium and Scandinavia. It can also be found in North Africa: Morocco and Algeria, Turkey, Siberia, and Central Asia in Mongolia and northern China included.^{[citation needed]}

M. phoebe inhabits flowery meadows and plains, but may just also be found in stonier places such as rocky hills.^[3][5]

Named in the classical tradition, Phoebe is—in Greek mythology—one of the first generation of Titans, the children of Uranus and Gaia.^{[citation needed]} The species Melitaea phoebe was described by entomologists Johann Nepomuk Cosmas, Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1779, under the initial name Papilio phoebe.

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