CHARACTERISTIC DETAILS OF THE SPECIES Melitaea phoebe and Melitaea ornata
The two species are very similar in UPF, UNF and UPH while the UNH are slightly different in the submarginal area.
Their caterpillars (from stage L4 onwards) differ in the color of the head, which is black in Melitaea phoebe and red in Melitaea ornata. An overview at http://diatheo.weebly.com/uploads/2/8/2/3/28235851/melitaea_ornata_anglais.pdf
In the islands of the eastern Aegean and in the Peloponnese there is only the species Melitaea ornata.
Distribution maps and photos are presented.
Melitaea_1
Melitaea ornata with submarginal signs, which do not form a continuous line and are interrupted at veins.
Melitaea_2
Melitaea phoebe with submarginal marks, forming a continuous line and not interrupted at veins.
1902008 ornata cropped
Two individuals Melitaea ornata in the same flower (Dadia) and three individuals Melitaea ornata on faeces (Siniatsiko)
2430006
Two individuals Melitaea ornata in the same flower (Dadia) and three individuals Melitaea ornata on faeces (Siniatsiko)
0592013
0970024 ornata
0592012 ornata cropped
0593014 phoebe cropped
0593013 phoebe cropped
0783033 phoebe cropped
0783029 phoebe cropped
1617003 phoebe cropped
1617004
In the work https://dea.lib.unideb.hu/dea/bitstream/handle/2437/131816/TothJP_diss.pdf;jsessionid=EB25CB4569A03EF1CF35A8441CDD5B0B?sequence=1 there are comments for additional suggested characteristic details of the wings of Melitaea ornata and Melitae phoebewhich have been suggested to be useful in identifying, but which have not yet been fully confirmed (such as the shape of the clubs of the antenna, on page 68, which seems to apply in several cases but not completely).
In a recent paper by Joan C Hinojosa, et al.: Integrative Taxonomy Reveals a New Melitaea (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Species Widely Distributed in the Iberian Peninsula, Insect Systematics and Diversity, Volume 6, Issue 2, March 2022, 1, https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixac004 the new species Melitaea pseudornata found (in Spain, with two generations), very similar to M. phoebe.
