The color of the wing and the appearance of the black lines that follow the wing nervature are very variable in this butterfly. The red circles in the series of fields along the edge of the bottom of the hind wings are always clearly expressed, and often seen from the top of the wing. If we exclude the
Eastern knapweed fritillary (see the description on the species page), based on this characteristic it can be differentiated from the other
Melitaea species. It settles various grassy habitats, forests, roads, or settlements. The caterpillars hosts plants include plants from the genus
Centaurea,
Arctium i
Plantago. This species inhabits the whole territory of Serbia. It seems as the Serbian subspecies belong to
M. p. occitanica, although in the far north the specimens probably belong to the subspecies
M. p. phoebe. Except in the north, the areal of this species spreads throughout Europe and most of the Palearctic.