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LEPIDOPTERA

Mellicta aurelia (Nickeri, 1850)
Mellicta aurelia (Nickeri, 1850)

• TYPE LOCALITY. «Erlangen» [Germany].

• SYNONYMS. minor (Esper, 1784), nom. praeoccup.; parthenie (Borkhausen, 1788), nom. praeoccup.

• RANGE. From W. France across S. Europe, the Caucasus and N. Kazakhstan to E. the Tian-Shan and W. Siberia.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominotypical subspecies (= petricola Nekrutenko, 1978) inhabits a continuous area ranging from the S. European part (to the Crimea in the south) to W. Siberia (to the Novosibirsk Region in the east). This form is highly variable, depending on local ecological conditions. The other more or less well-separated subspecies are as follows: ssp. albimacula Wojtusiak et Niesiolowski, 1946 (Caucasus Major, central part); ssp. ciscaucosica Rjabov, 1926 (N. Caucasus); ssp. distans Higgins, 1955 (E. Tian-Shan, Tekkes Valley).

• TAXONOMIC NOTES. Some authors (Nekrutenko, 1975; Hesselbarth et al., 1995) consider albimacula as a synonym of ciscaucosica. In our opinion, however, the taxonomic status of, and the relations between, these two subspecies, as well as of other forms of M. aurelia, require further, profound studies.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Forest edges and clearings in deciduous forest and steppe; subalpine and alpine meadows up to 2,500 m a. S.I. Flight period: June to July. Host plants (Higgins, 1955, after Urbahn, 1952; Korshunov & Gorbunov, 1995; Tolman, 1997): Plantago, Veronica, PTanacetum. Hibernation larval (Kumakov & Korshunov, 1979).

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Mellicta britomartis: UPS generally darker; apical pale spots of UNF small; double marginal line of UNH filled with orange. M. menetriesi: pale pattern of UNS generally extended; genitalia different.

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