LEPIDOPTERA

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

  • CLOSSIANA Reuss, 1920

    
    

    • Clossiana oscarus (Eversmann, 1844)

Clossiana oscarus (Eversmann, 1844)

• TYPE LOCALITY. «...in provincia Irkutzkiensis» [Irkutsk Region, Russia].

• RANGE. From W. Siberia across the mountains of S. Siberia to the Ussuri region and E. Siberia; Mongolia, N. China.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The Altais across the mountains of S. Siberia to the E. Amur region are populated by the nominotypical subspecies. In the S. Amur region and in the Ussuri region as well as on Sakhalin Island, the ssp. australis (Graeser, 1888) (= maxima (Fixsen, 1887), nom. praeoccup.; = major (Graeser, 1888)) is known to occur. E. Yakutia is inhabited by the ssp. oscaroides (Menetries, 1859), which has a smaller size and a slightly paler ground colour of the UPS.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Dry, rarely wet, meadows and slopes up to 2,000 m a.s.l. Flight period: May to August, depending on altitude and latitude. Host plants (Korshunov & Gorbunov, 1995): different species of Viola.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Clossiana selene, C. perryi, C. euphrosyne, C. iphigenia, C. selenis: discal band on UNH with mother-of-pearl spots. C. thore, C. angarensis, C. titania: postdiscal area on UNH with intensive violet sheen.

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