LEPIDOPTERA

Carcharodus orientalis Reverdin, 1913
Carcharodus orientalis Reverdin, 1913

• TYPE LOCALITY. "le Peloponese" [Peloponnesos, S. Greece].

• RANGE. From SE. Europe across Asia Minor to Palestine and N. Iran.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The S. European part, the Crimea, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. The great ecological and seasonal variation range in size and colour makes a subspecific division difficult, the only exception being the large and dark ssp. teberdinus Devyatkin, 1990 (the mountains of the Caucasus Major).

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Dry habitats of steppe or mediterranean types; in the mountains up to 2,000 m a.s.l. or even higher. Flight period: April-September in several generations depending on climatic conditions.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. C. alceae: male lacking a UNF hair tuft. C. flocciferus, C. stauden, C. dravira: genitalia different (Fig.).

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997

fig 2

Fig. Male genitalia of some Carcharodus (right clasp and aedeagus): 1 - C. flocciferus (Armenia); 2 - C. orientalis (Talysh); 3 - C. stauderi (Nakhichevan); 4 - C. dravira (W. Kopet-Dagh Mts.)