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LEPIDOPTERA

Esperarge climene (Esper, [1783])
  Esperarge climene   (Esper, [1783])

· TYPE LOCALITY. "...in den Gegenden der Wolga" [Lower Volga flow, S. Russia].

· RANGE. SE. Europe from the Balkans across S. Russia and the Caucasus to Asia Minor.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The South of the European part - the nominate subspecies; the Caucasus and Transcaucasia - ssp. roxandra (Herrich-Schaffer, [1850]) (= valentinae Miller, 1923; = tkatshukovi Sheljuzhko, 1925).

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Preferring sunny openings and edges of sparse oak and pine forests, often resting on branches and in foliage but not under the canopy; in

the mountains up to 2,000 m a.s.l. Flight period: end of June to August. Host plant (Hesselbarth et al., 1995): Poa annua.

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