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LEPIDOPTERA

Brenthis hecate ([Denis et Schiffermuller], 1775)
Brenthis hecate ([Denis et Schiffermuller], 1775)

• TYPE LOCALITY. «Umgebung von Wien» [Vienna, Austria].

• RANGE. From S. Europe across Asia Minor and Central Asia to the Altais and Sayan Mts.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominotypical subspecies occurs in the S. European part and W. Siberia. From Lithuania, the ssp. duxtina Kazlauskas, 1984 has been described. The Caucasus, Transcaucasia and the Kopet-Dagh are populated by the ssp. transcaucasica Wnukowsky, 1929 (= caucasia (Staudinger, 1861), nomen nudum; = caucasica (Staudinger, 1871), nom. praeoccup.). In the Altais as well as the Tarbagatai and Saur mountains, the ssp. warreni Kudrna, 1974 is known to occur, while the ssp. alaica (Staudinger, 1886) lives in the Tian-Shan, the Ghissar, and the Pamirs-Alai. The Darvaz supports the ssp. latericia Tuzov, 2000.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Preferring dry meadows and steppe-clad slopes, in the mountains up to the upper timber-line. Flight period: May to July. Host plants in the lower flow of Volga River (Dantchenko & Nikolaevsky, in press): Spiraea crenata; in other parts of Europe (Niculescu, 1965; Higgins & Riley, 1984): Dorycnium, Rubus, Filipendula vulgaris; Onobrychis and Viola have also been noted.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Brenthis daphne: larger; UNH with intensive violet dust; black submarginal spots on UNH undeveloped. B. ino: smaller; ground colour of UNH yellowish, black marking not contrasting.

 

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