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LEPIDOPTERA

Melitaea (phoebe) phoebe ([Denis et Schiffermuller], 1775)
Melitaea (phoebe) phoebe ([Denis et Schiffermuller], 1775)

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

• SYNONYMS. phoebe (Goeze, [1779]), nom. praeoccup.; paedotrophos (Bergstrasser, 1780); corythallia (Esper, [1781]); phoebe (Knoch, 1783); nom. praeoccup.; tremulae (Piller et Mitterpacher, 1783), etc., see below.

• RANGE. From W. Europe across Asia Minor to Transbaikalia, Mongolia and W. China.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Being an extremely variable species, a lot of forms and varieties have been described. Moreover, individual variability appears to be combined with geographical one, as a rule. Depending on particular ecological conditions, light (aetherea Eversmann, 1851) or dark (melanina Bonaparte, 1831) forms can dominate a population. Taking into account all available evidence on the ratio between the forms, the following subspecies could be accepted: the nominotypical subspecies (= tartara Krulikovsky, 1891; = ornataChristoph, 1893; = parva Caradja, 1895; = walensis Krulikovsky, 1897, nom. praeoccup.; = ufensis Krulikovsky, 1902; = lokris Fruhstorfer, 1908; = sextilis Jachontov, 1908), characterised by an approximately equal ratio of dark to light individuals in populations, is widespread in the S. European part, the N. Caucasus, W. Siberia and the Altais; ssp. ottonis Fruhstorfer, '1917 (= caucasica Staudinger, 1861, nom. nudum; = caucasica Staudinger, 1870, nom. praeoccup.; = caucasicola Verity, 1919), a large bright form with rare melanic specimens, flying in Transcaucasia; ssp. enoch Higgins, 1941, described from the vicinity of Ashkhabad, yet its occurrence in the Kopet-Dagh Mts. is not confirmed by new material; ssp. wagneri Wnukowsky. 1929 (= diatauica Wagner, 1913, nom. praeoccup.), occurring in the mountains ofTian-Shan, Saur and Tarbagatai, habitually is a form transitional between ottonis and the nominotypical subspecies; ssp. tungana Seitz. [1909], dark and small, is distributed in the mountains of S. Siberia; ssp. tungusa Herz, 1898, from central-eastern Siberia (Yakutia), is somewhat similar to the previous subspecies; ssp. mandarina Seitz, [1909], large and light, described from Mongolia, flies over steppe habitats of Transbaikalia and the Amur region. From the adjacent territories, the ssp. saturata Staudinger, 1892 (TL: Kentei Mts.) and changaica Seitz, [1909] (TL: Khangai Mts.) have been described.

• TAXONOMIC NOTES. The status of punica Oberthiir, 1876 remains a disputable problem. Similarly, there is no common opinion concerning the relationships between M. (phoebe) phoebe and M. aetherie in the southwest, and M. scotosia in the southeast, of the distribution area.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Common over dry meadows, in the mountains not over 1,500 m a.s.l. Flight period: June to July sometimes in two generations. Host plants (Korshunov & Gorbunov, 1995): Centaurea, Plantago, Serratula, Cirsium, Saussurea. Stemmacantha.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. Melitaea punica: smaller; black marking less well-developed. M. psedosibina, M. sibina: black marking well-developed; yellowish submarginal lunules of UPF in cell 3 produced basally.

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