LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • MELANARGIA Meigen, [1828]

    
    

    • Melanargia larissa (Geyer, [1828])

Melanargia larissa hertina Staudinger, 1901.

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Cres, Kroatien" [Cherso Island, Croatia].

· RANGE. The Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor to Transcaucasia and NW. Iran.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Transcaucasia - ssp. astanda (Boisduval, 1848); in the Akhaltsikhe and Aspindza districts of Georgia, both adjacent to Turkey - ssp. hertina Staudinger, 1901.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Locally in xerophytic plant associations: sparse woodlands, dry habitats on calcareous soils, etc. at 300-1,700 m a.s.l. Flight period: May-July. Host plants (Nekrutenko, 1990; Hesselbarth et al., 1995): grasses, mainly Poa spp.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. M. russiae: UPH cell always, though sometimes partly, white; UPF wing bases more or less darkened.

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