LEPIDOPTERA

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

  • MELITAEA Fabricius, 1807

    
    

    • Melitaea enarea Fruhstorfer, [1917]

Melitaea enarea Fruhstorfer, [1917]

• TYPE LOCALITY. «Garm, Gebirge Peter der Grosse» [Garm, Peter I Mts., Tajikistan].

• RANGE. From the ?Kopet-Dagh to the W. Pamirs, the Alai and the Fergansky Mts. in the east; ?Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominotypical subspecies occurs in the Darvaz. From the Fergansky Mts., the ssp. gromenkoi Kolesnichenko, 1999 has been described. The W. Pamirs support the ssp. shugnana Sheljuzhko, 1929 (= ishkashima Sheljuzhko, 1929). Specimens from the Kopet-Dagh probably belong to an undescribed subspecies.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Xerothermic foothill or mountain biotopes up to 3,500 m a.s.l. Flight period: end of April to July, in two generations.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Melitaea didyma: aedeagus strongly curved. M. ala, M. kotshubeji: submarginal lunules of UPH obscure or absent. M. mimetica, M. persea: submarginal orange fascia of UNH split into separate spots, each of latter typically bordered proximally by a black lunule.

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