Image to followAI-generated illustrationMelitaea cinxia
Melitaea cinxia
Family: NymphalidaeGenus: Melitaeanative in Germany
native in Germany
native_regions-Cache · 85 %
🌿
22
Plants
visited
🔗
32
Interactions
documented
🌱
10
Host plants
known
About this species
A brush-footed butterfly recorded in the United Kingdom, whose larvae feed on a restricted range of plants and pass the winter in the caterpillar stage.
Ecological network
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Plant food
Yearly cycle
Larvae are the overwintering stage. One or more generations may be completed in a year, depending on environmental factors.
Merkmale
Körper
Wingspan
3.575 cm
Ernährung & Verhalten
Food
oligophagous
Generationen/Jahr
flexible
Overwintering
larva
Scientific profile
Melitaea cinxia is a member of the Nymphalidae family. Its voltinism is flexible, so the number of broods can change with local conditions. The species is oligophagous: the caterpillars rely on a narrow selection of host plants. Development includes an overwintering larval stage.
Host plants
10 plants serve as food for the larvae
Hieracium alpestrePlantago coronopusPlantago lanceolataPlantago maritimaBeta vulgarisPlantago mediaPlantago maritimaPlantago major subsp. majorVeronica spicataCentaurea jacea
Visited plants
12 plants are visited by this species
Pilosella officinarumLotus corniculatus subsp. hirsutusArmeria maritima subsp. serpentiniEryngium campestreVeronica teucriumMalva sylvestrisThymus vulgarisMentha suaveolensAnchusa officinalisAjuga genevensisArmeria arenariaCardamine bulbifera
Sources & data origin
•TraitCH — CC BY 4.0TraitCH 2.0 contributors; imported as source-preserving NaturKompass taxon evidence.
•Cook et al. (2025) UK Butterfly & Moth Traits (DOI: 10.5285/dbc7cc17-cbbd-49dd-bab4-8e8855768d66)
•Interaktionsdaten via GloBI (CC-BY 4.0)
•Neff et al. (2025) — Swiss Moth Traits, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14506883 (CC BY)
•GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — GBIF Secretariat (2024), DOI: 10.15468/39omei (CC BY 4.0)
•Seifert & Fiedler (2023) — Macroecological patterns in European butterflies unveil strong interrelations between larval diet breadth, latitudinal range size, and voltinism [Dataset]. Dryad, DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9zw3r22mp (CC0)
All data is licensed under CC BY 4.0, CC0, or compatible terms. Attribution according to license conditions. Full source overview →