Melanargia is a genus of butterflies belonging to the family Nymphalidae and the subfamily Satyrinae (formerly family Satyridae). This genus, described by Johann Wilhelm Meigen in 1828, is the only genus in the subtribe Melanargiina, Wheeler, 1903. The adults of this genus of satyrines are easily distinguished by their white wings with black veins and markings (hence the common name "marbled whites"). A peculiar phenotypic distinctiveness is also a dilated vein 12 at the base of the forewing. Butterflies of genus Melanargia are widespread from Europe and north Africa to Japan. Species and subspecies The investigations on genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationships among Melanargia species have recognized three subgenera (Melanargia, Argeformia, and Halimede) and reclassified the genus in 20 species and relevant subspecies as follows Subgenus Melanargia Meigen, 1829 Melanargia galathea (Linnaeus, 1758) - marbled white Melanargia galathea ssp. galathea (Linnaeus, 1758) (Europe) Melanargia galathea ssp. satnia Fruhstorfer, 1917 (Caucasus) Melanargia galathea ssp. magdalenae Reichl, 1975 Melanargia galathea ssp. syracusana Zeller, 1847 Melanargia lucasi (Rambur, 1858) (northern Africa) Melanargia lucasi ssp. lucasi (Rambur, 1858) Melanargia lucasi ssp. meadwaldoi Rothschild, 1917 Melanargia lachesis (Hübner, 1790) - Iberian marbled white Melanargia evartianae Wagener, 1976 (northern Iran) Melanargia evartianae ssp. evartianae Wagener, 1976 Melanargia evartianae ssp. sadjadii Carbonell & Naderi, 2006 Melanargia teneates (Ménétriés, 1832) (northern Iran) Melanargia teneates ssp. teneates (Ménétriés, 1832) Melanargia teneates ssp. meda (Grum-Grshimailo, 1895) Melanargia larissa (Geyer, 1828) - Balkan marbled white Melanargia larissa ssp. larissa (Geyer, 1828) Melanargia larissa ssp. hylata (Ménétriés, 1832) (Turkey and Iran) Melanargia larissa ssp. grumi Standfuss, 1892 Melanargia larissa ssp. lorestanensis Carbonell & Naderi, 2007 Melanargia larissa ssp. iranica Seitz, 1907 Melanargia larissa ssp. taurica (Rober, 1896) Melanargia larissa ssp. massageta Staudinger, 1901 Melanargia larissa ssp. karabagi Koçak, 1976 Melanargia larissa ssp. kocaki Wagener, 1983 Melanargia larissa ssp. syriaca (Oberthür, 1894) Melanargia larissa ssp. titea (Klug, 1832) (= titania Calberla, 1891, = standfussi Wagener, 1983) Melanargia wiskotii Rober, 1896 Melanargia russiae (Esper, 1783) - Esper's marbled white (southern Europe to central Asia) Melanargia russiae ssp. russiae (Esper, 1793) Melanargia russiae ssp. cleanthe (Boisduval, 1833) Melanargia russiae ssp. japygia (Cyrillo, 1787) Melanargia transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901) Melanargia transcaspica ssp. transcaspica (Staudinger, 1901) Melanargia transcaspica ssp. eberti Wagener, 1975 Melanargia parce Staudinger, 1882 Melanargia lucida (Staudinger, 1886) Subgenus Argeformia Verity, 1953 Melanargia occitanica (Esper, 1793) - western marbled white (south-west of Europe, northern Africa and Sicily) Melanargia occitanica ssp. occitanica (Esper, 1793) Melanargia occitanica ssp.