LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • SATYRUS Latreille, 1810

    
    

    • Satyrus ferula (Fabricius, 1793)

Satyrus ferula (Fabricius, 1793)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Italien, [Westalpen, Valdieri]".

· RANGE. From Morocco and Spain across S. and SE. Europe, Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Transbaikalia and W. China.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Represented by the following subspecies:

ssp. ferula Fabricius, 1793 (= bryce Hubner, [1800], nom. nudum) - the SE. European part, W. Siberia, the Altai, Transbaikalia;

ssp. altaica Grum-Grshimailo, 1893 - N. Tian-Shan, Dzhungarsky Alatau, Saur and Tarbagatai;

ssp. liupiuschani O. Bang-Haas, 1933 (=? medvedevi Korshunov, 1996) - S. Tuva;

ssp. cordulina Staudinger, 1886 - Ghissar;

ssp. alaica Staudinger, 1886 - Alai, Inner Tian-Shan;

ssp. rickmersi van Rosen, 1921 - the W. Pamirs.

Most of the subspecies show constant and well-defined characters, so some of them may prove to be distinct species.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. In the populations inhabiting the S. Ukraine and Volga region, specimens are found with characters transitional towards S. virbius (Nekrutenko, 1965). Apparently, further studies based on a more abundant material are required to solve this problem.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Steppe-clad slopes up to 2,500 m a.s.l. Flight period: July-August. Host plants in Europe (Higgins, Riley, 1982): Stipa, Festuca, Deschampsia caespitosa.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. S. dryas: UPF eye-spots centred with bluish pupils. S. virbius: UNH pattern reduced almost totally.

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