[2] It is found in the Palearctic realm, including most of Europe and North Africa, excluding the United Kingdom and Scandinavia.

The larvae are grey with a black head, soft red-brown branched thorns, blackish dorsal lines, and numerous small white dots.

It can also be found in North Africa: Morocco and Algeria, Turkey, Siberia, and Central Asia in Mongolia and northern China included.

[citation needed] M. phoebe inhabits flowery meadows and plains, but may just also be found in stonier places such as rocky hills.

[3][5] Named in the classical tradition, Phoebe is—in Greek mythology—one of the first generation of Titans, the children of Uranus and Gaia.