LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • APHANTOPUS Wallengren, 1853

    
    

    • Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758)

· TYPE LOCALITY. Sweden.

· RANGE. From Europe (except for the Mediterranean and Arctic areas) across temperate Asia to the Ussuri region and Korea.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominate subspecies occurs in the European part as well as in the Caucasus Major and Minor. Other known subspecies are as follows:

ssp. sibiricus Obraztsov, 1936 - the Altai, S. Siberia and Transbaikalia;

ssp. sajana (O. Bang-Haas, 1906) - the Sayan Mts.;

ssp. ocellata (Butler, 1882) (= amurensis Staudinger, 1892; = insularis Kurentzov, 1966) - the Amur and Ussuri regions;

ssp. arctica (Seitz, 1909) - the N. European part.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. All above subspecies show no significant distinctive characters and most probably should be regarded as synonyms.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. A typical species of forest and forest-steppe inhabiting forest edges and clearings on plains as well as in the mountains up to 1,500 m a.s.l., though not above the mixed forest belt. Flight period: June-August. Hibernation larval. Host plants in Europe (Eckstein, 1913; Ebert, 1991; etc.): grasses Poa, Milium, Calamagrostis, Dactylis, Elytrigia, Holcus, Anthoxanthum, also Carex.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. Coenonympha oedippus: much smaller; UNH with eye-spot in space M2-M3.

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