A small to medium-sized butterfly common in North Africa, Saudi Arabia, and northward to Israel. In Israel it is common in the Mediterranean region, in the valley and in the high mountains of the Negev, in the spring months (March to May). Its wingspan is up to about 50 mm. It has two generations a year. A butterfly that generally resembles the greater spangled fritillary, only larger than it. In Israel there are additional species in the genus Melitaea, most of them are common in northern Israel and it is difficult to distinguish between them.
The female lays dozens of eggs on the stems of snapdragons, figwort, linaria, and additional species from the figwort family. The egg is greenish in color.
A larva hatches from the egg and as it grows it turns black and has orange tubercles from which dark bristles emerge. Its head is orange. Its maximum size is about 30 mm and it usually pupates on the host plant. The larvae of the second generation undergo winter diapause until January.
The pupa is about 15 mm in size. Its color is light and it has black and yellow-orange spots. Its duration is from two weeks to a month.