Scientific Name: Melanargia galathea. The genus name means 'black-and-white'.
English Name: Marbled White.
French Name: Le Demi-deuil (='the half mourning').
5 Key Characters:
Habitat: Wet or dry unimproved grassland.
Flight Period: May-June-July-August-September.
Caterpillar: Brown or green, August to June.
Host Plant: Grasses (Timothy Phleum pratense, Sheep Fescue Festuca ovina, Tor Grass Brachypodium pinnatum, a false brome B. rupestre).
Status: One of the top ten most common species in France, widely distributed and very abundant. This is a conspicuous and easy to see butterfly in the Touraine Loire Valley and Brenne.
Further Reading and References:
Les Papillons de jour de France, Belgique et Luxembourg et leurs chenilles by Tristan Lafranchis.
Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. Row 1 left on brambles at the side of the track along the Etang de la mer rouge in the Brenne, June; centre in a crop margin, La Liege.
English Name: Marbled White.
French Name: Le Demi-deuil (='the half mourning').
5 Key Characters:- a medium large black and white butterfly (forewings 23 - 30 mm long).
- underside of the hindwing is white with gray spots in the male and yellowish with pale brown spots in the female.
- very gregarious and abundant.
- a chalk grassland specialist.
- adults are attracted to purple flowers and mainly nectar at thistles and knapweeds Centaurea spp.
Habitat: Wet or dry unimproved grassland.
Flight Period: May-June-July-August-September.
Caterpillar: Brown or green, August to June.
Host Plant: Grasses (Timothy Phleum pratense, Sheep Fescue Festuca ovina, Tor Grass Brachypodium pinnatum, a false brome B. rupestre).
Status: One of the top ten most common species in France, widely distributed and very abundant. This is a conspicuous and easy to see butterfly in the Touraine Loire Valley and Brenne.
Further Reading and References:
Les Papillons de jour de France, Belgique et Luxembourg et leurs chenilles by Tristan Lafranchis.
Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
All photos will enlarge in a new window if you click on them. Row 1 left on brambles at the side of the track along the Etang de la mer rouge in the Brenne, June; centre in a crop margin, La Liege.
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| Male, nectaring on scabious. |
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| Male, nectaring on scabious. |
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