LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • MELANARGIA Meigen, [1828]

    
    

    • Melanargia halimede (Menetries, 1859)

Melanargia halimede (Menetries, 1859)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Montagnes de Chingan, et sur les rives de la riviere Sakhalin, on partie superieure du fleuve Amour, jusqu'aux montagnes de Geonz" [Amur region: from the Khingan Mts. to Sakhalin shores and from the upper Amur River flow to the Gonzha Mts., Russia].

· RANGE. E. Asia from Transbaikalia and E. Mongolia to NE. China and Korea.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Transbaikalia (occasionally), the Amur and Ussuri regions - the nominate subspecies.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Flowery meadows, steppe and other open grassy habitats. Flight period: July-August. Known host plant (Graeser, 1888): Calamag-rostis epigeos.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. M. epimede: larger, UPS black coloration dense and extended, UNH with marked submarginal ocelli, discal broken line absent. Transitional forms are often found in the intergradation zone.

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