Melanargia russiae
Melanargia russiae, or Esper's marbled white, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Spain, Portugal, south-eastern France, Italy, the Balkans, southern Russia, the Caucasus and western Siberia. The male has a wingspan of 26–30 mm. In "suwarovius" Hbst. (– "clotho" Hbn., "russiae" Esp.) (38 e), which represents the species in the North and extends from Hungary across South Russia and Siberia to the Altai, the discocellular band of the forewing becomes lighter in consequence of the appearance of a white central spot in the same, this white spot with its black border forming  a kind of median ocellus. – In "caucasica" Nordm. (– "xenia" Frr.) (38 e) also the median band of the hindwing is rendered light by the appearance of white spots, the black markings therefore being all separated into stripes, lunules, and arcuate lines. In the Eastern Caucasus (Daghestan) and Armenia. – "transcaspica" Stgr. (38 e) has a little more black than this white form, the submarginal macular lines being thickened and proximally shaded with grey scaling, which extends on the veins as dark projections to the margin, the median band of the hindwing above also being filled in with dark scaling. Adults are  on wing from June to August, although mainly in July in rocky places. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on "Brachypodium", "Poa", "Stipa pennata" and "Aegilops geniculata". It overwinters in the larval stage