LEPIDOPTERA

• N Y M P H A L I D A E Swainson, 1827

  • ALDANIA Moore, 1869

    
    

    • Aldania deliquata Stichel, 1909

Aldania deliquata Stichel, 1909

•TYPE LOCALITY. «... rein weissen Zeichnungen (Ust-Strel-ka)». [Confluence of Shilka and Argun rivers, Chita Region, Siberia].

• RANGE. Transbaikalia (Shilka and Argun basins), Amur and Ussuri regions; NE. China, Korea.

•DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominotypical sub­species inhabits Transbaikalia (Shilka and Argun basins). In the Amur and Ussuri regions, the ssp. tshetuerikovi (Kuren­tzov, 1936) is known to occur.

•TAXONOMIC NOTES. Kurentzov (1936) described his Neptis tshetverikovi as a separate species but Eliot (1969), who had no sufficient material at hand, consid­ered it as a subspecies of N. yunnana Oberthur, 1906. Dubatolov (1997) has compared the male genitalia of both taxa (fig. 3) and arrived at the conclusion that both are distinct species, same as Aldania thisbe. In most cases these three species display differences in UNH. The light form deliquata Stichel, [1909] has been described from near the confluence of Shilka and Argun rivers as an aberration of Neptis thisbe.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Mountain or lowland mixed forests. In the Sikhote-Alin Mts., penetrating the spruce-fir taiga up to 1,000 m a.s.l. Flight period: June to August. Host plants (Korshunov & Gorbunov, 1995): Betula spp.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Aldania thisbe: larger; one additional spot at end of subcostal blue stroke on UNH; male genitalia different. A. ilos: smaller; no additional blue spot on subcostal blue strokes on UNH.

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 2. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 2000