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What is a Iberian marbled white?
Characteristics of Iberian marbled whites
Common name: Iberian Medioluto
Photo of Iberian medium-sized butterfly
Scientific name: Melanargia lachesis
– Classification:
Class: Insects
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalids
Characteristics:
- Wingspan: Up to 6 cm.
- Habitat: Moors.
- Distribution: Much of Spain, Portugal and southern France.
- Behavior: Terrestrial species, diurnal.
- Food: Herbivorous (caterpillar: nutritional plants such as Festuca, Bromus, Brachypodium, etc.), adult or butterfly: nectar of compound flowers, among other families).
- Enemies: Birds, bats, spiders…
Facts about this butterfly
- Medium-sized lepidopteran insect of the nymphalidae family. Its wings can reach a wingspan of 6 cm, but normally the individuals of this species reach smaller dimensions.
- The wings of this butterfly have a characteristic checkered pattern of black and white spots.
- The Iberian marbled white is distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula, although it is missing in the extreme southwest of it. This species goes beyond the Spanish Pyrenees and also reaches the southern half of the French region of Languedoc-Roussillon.
- This species of insect in the larval or caterpillar stage feeds on different species of grasses. Butterflies suck nectar from various asteraceae flowers, such as Centaurea, Carduus or Cirsium.
- You can see the Iberian marbled white butterfly flying from the beginning of summer, in June or July, until the end of summer, during the month of August. Produces only one generation per year.
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