LEPIDOPTERA

• N Y M P H A L I D A E Swainson, 1827

  • MELITAEA Fabricius, 1807

    
    

    • Melitaea sibina Alpheraky, 1881

Melitaea sibina Alpheraky, 1881

• TYPE LOCALITY. Kouldja, Hi Valley [China].

• RANGE. Ghissar-Darvaz and Tian-Shan.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. A highly variable species. The nominotypical subspecies inhabits the Hi Valley. In the mountains of Ghissar-Darvaz and Tian-Shan, the ssp. cmlicanci Seitz, [1909] (= rama Higgins, 1941) is known to occur; the mountains of Dzhungarsky Alatau are populated by the ssp. dschungarica Grum-Grshimailo, 1895.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Flying from the end of May to July along rivers and streams, in the mountains up to 2,500 m a.s.l.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Melitaea phoebe: yellowish submarginal lunules of UPF in cell 3 not produced basally.

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 2. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 2000