Provencal Fritillary (Mellicta dejone)

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2011 photos highlighted in green. Click on any photo to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.

10475_male_Alpes-Maritimes_10May08 10440_pair_Alpes-Maritimes_9May08 10478_pair_Alpes-Maritimes_10May08
 
10439_female_Alpes-Maritimes_9May08 03_29-16_sex?_Var_Jun03  

After looking at a lot of Heath (M. athalia), Meadow (M. parthenoides) and Provencal (M. dejone) Fritillaries I think I may be able to tell them apart, but I’m sometimes less than 100% sure. The dejone male upperside ground colour is clear orange-yellow with thin black markings, consistent in the male, but the female often has paler bands giving a colour contrast, clearly visible in 10439. I tend to feel that the marginal lunules are more arched and arrow-shaped in dejone than in it's relatives, but this may not be conclusive, or even indicative.

The underside has a reddish feel to it, often with a clear reddish spot in each post-discal space. In some textbooks dejone is spelt deione.

 

In the new European taxonomy, the Mellicta fritillaries are now grouped with the Melitaea genus, so this species now has the scientific name Melitaea dejone.

 
ref sex

observations

alt. m
10475 M

a male, in typical territorial pose.

1000
10440 PR

an unusual opportunity to compare the two uppersides, the female being on the left. The male is more typical of the strong orange-red colouring than 10475.

1000
10478 F

a shot of courtship, the female above, I think. 

1000
10439 F

a typical female, showing the unmistakeable colour contrast that leave little room for doubt that it is dejone.  

1000
03_29-16 ?

The red spots in the unh post-discal spaces are rather small, whereas they are usually red-filled, but the strong redness of the unf is usually a good indicator of dejone. I find it hard to get opportunities to photograph the underside, hence this rather old photo. However, Tim Cowles points out that the unh marginal band is yellow and contrasting with the adjacent white, which conclusively indicates athalia. The black shadow to the unf marginal lunule in s2 strongly indicates athalia. I think the redness may be a factor of the film camera I was using at the time, which often enhanced colours sometimes unnaturally. Athalia it is, then, but I'll leave it on this page to invite further comment on dejone/athalia ID features.

 

 

10475_male_Alpes-Maritimes_10May08

 

10440_pair_Alpes-Maritimes_9May08

 

10478_pair_Alpes-Maritimes_10May08

 

10439_female_Alpes-Maritimes_9May08