The "shining venus" is the typical butterfly featured on the cover of an illustrated nature handbook, with its long antennae and multicolored wings. Its scientific name could derive from one of the many names of the goddess Aphrodite ("Melinaea") or from its geographical origin (that is, from the Greek "melitaios" = Maltese), but on its glittering beauty there is no room for hesitation: "phoebe", in fact, derives from the Greek "phoibos" which means, precisely, "brilliant".
This Nymphalid is found from Spain and North Africa to Central Europe, and from there through Central Asia to Siberia and China. It is a pasture/meadow species, found at altitudes between 0-1800m. Larval food plants include plantain and cornflower. Both sexes visit a wide range of flowers for nectar, including thistles and cornflower. On dry weather, they perch overnight on the dead heads of cornflowers, but will burrow deep into clumps of grass when rain threatens.