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Melanargia galathea
Melanargia galathea, the marbled white, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The marbled white was described in 1666 by C Merrett, and in 1695 James Petiver found a specimen in a wood near Hampstead and called it Papilio leucomelanus, our half-Mourner, to distinguish it from the Bath White, which Vernon (1702) had called the half-Mourner. It was also known as The Marmoris by Benjamin Wilkes and The Marmoress by Moses Harris. The butterfly was, also described in 1758, by the Swedish biologist and physician, Carl Linnaeus who formalised binomial nomenclature. Despite its common name and appearance, this butterfly is one of the "browns", of the subfamily Satyrinae.
This species can be found across most of Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. It is found in forest clearings and edges, meadows and steppe where it occurs up to 1,500–1,700 metres (4,900–5,600 ft) above sea level. The caterpillars feed on various grasses.
Melanargia galathea has a wingspan of 46–56 millimetres (1.8–2.2 in). In these medium-sized butterflies the upper side of the wings is decorated with white and gray-black or dark brown markings, but it is always gray-black or dark brown checkered in the basal and distal areas. The underside is similar to the upper side but the drawings is light gray or light brown. On the underside of the hindwings is present a row of gray eye spots. The males and the females are quite similar, except that some females may have a yellowish nuance on the underside of the wings. Seitz - M. galathea. In the otherwise black cell of both wing an oval white spot which is not divided by a transverse bar. On the hindwing above the ocelli are quite invisible or shine through very faintly from the underside. On a good site, in warm, sunny weather, thousands can be seen gently fluttering amongst the grass heads.
Eggs are laid on the wing, or from brief perches on various grass stems, and are just sprinkled among the grass stems. These include Timothy (Phleum pratense), annual meadow grass (Poa annua), rough meadow-grass (P. trivalis), red fescue (Festuca rubra), upright brome (Bromus erectus), tor-grass (Brachypodium pinnatum), common bent (Agrostis capillaris), couch grasses (Elymus syn. Elytrigia), soft-grasses (Holcus species), cocksfoot grasses (Dactylis species), wheat (Triticum species) and wheatgrass (Agropyron species).
Larvae
Upon hatching, the larvae immediately enter hibernation and feed in the following spring when the fresh growth occurs. They are a lime-green colour, with a dark green line running down the middle of their back.
Marbled White are a slow flying species so should be an easy prey for predators but because the larvae feed on grasses it was a mystery as to where toxins could come from to deter predators. The toxins are a type of pyrrolizidine alkaloid known as Iolines. Research by Miriam Rothschild and David Nash suggest that the larvae get their toxins by eating fungi which infect their normal diet of grasses, and retain the poisons to deter predators, such as birds, from eating the larvae and adults. This is the first record of a butterfly acquiring toxins from a fungus.
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Melanargia galathea
Melanargia galathea, the marbled white, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The marbled white was described in 1666 by C Merrett, and in 1695 James Petiver found a specimen in a wood near Hampstead and called it Papilio leucomelanus, our half-Mourner, to distinguish it from the Bath White, which Vernon (1702) had called the half-Mourner. It was also known as The Marmoris by Benjamin Wilkes and The Marmoress by Moses Harris. The butterfly was, also described in 1758, by the Swedish biologist and physician, Carl Linnaeus who formalised binomial nomenclature. Despite its common name and appearance, this butterfly is one of the "browns", of the subfamily Satyrinae.
This species can be found across most of Europe, southern Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. It is found in forest clearings and edges, meadows and steppe where it occurs up to 1,500–1,700 metres (4,900–5,600 ft) above sea level. The caterpillars feed on various grasses.
Melanargia galathea has a wingspan of 46–56 millimetres (1.8–2.2 in). In these medium-sized butterflies the upper side of the wings is decorated with white and gray-black or dark brown markings, but it is always gray-black or dark brown checkered in the basal and distal areas. The underside is similar to the upper side but the drawings is light gray or light brown. On the underside of the hindwings is present a row of gray eye spots. The males and the females are quite similar, except that some females may have a yellowish nuance on the underside of the wings. Seitz - M. galathea. In the otherwise black cell of both wing an oval white spot which is not divided by a transverse bar. On the hindwing above the ocelli are quite invisible or shine through very faintly from the underside. On a good site, in warm, sunny weather, thousands can be seen gently fluttering amongst the grass heads.
Eggs are laid on the wing, or from brief perches on various grass stems, and are just sprinkled among the grass stems. These include Timothy (Phleum pratense), annual meadow grass (Poa annua), rough meadow-grass (P. trivalis), red fescue (Festuca rubra), upright brome (Bromus erectus), tor-grass (Brachypodium pinnatum), common bent (Agrostis capillaris), couch grasses (Elymus syn. Elytrigia), soft-grasses (Holcus species), cocksfoot grasses (Dactylis species), wheat (Triticum species) and wheatgrass (Agropyron species).
Larvae
Upon hatching, the larvae immediately enter hibernation and feed in the following spring when the fresh growth occurs. They are a lime-green colour, with a dark green line running down the middle of their back.
Marbled White are a slow flying species so should be an easy prey for predators but because the larvae feed on grasses it was a mystery as to where toxins could come from to deter predators. The toxins are a type of pyrrolizidine alkaloid known as Iolines. Research by Miriam Rothschild and David Nash suggest that the larvae get their toxins by eating fungi which infect their normal diet of grasses, and retain the poisons to deter predators, such as birds, from eating the larvae and adults. This is the first record of a butterfly acquiring toxins from a fungus.