LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • COENONYMPHA Hubner, 1819

    
    

    • Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Coenonympha pamphilus (Linnaeus, 1758)

· TYPE LOCALITY. Sweden.

· RANGE. The entire Palaearctic Region with the exception of E. Siberia, the Far East, the Pamirs, the mountains of Central Asia and the extreme north.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The species is characterized by great individual and seasonal variation and is represented throughout the range by a lot of more or less distinct forms, the real status of which is still to be defined as subspecific, infrasubspecific or seasonal. The following varieties have been listed: lyllus (Esper, 1805) and marginata Heyne, [1894] for the S. European part and Siberia, the Crimea, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia; fulvolactea Verity, 1926, centralasiae Verity, 1926, infrarasa Verity, 1926, juldusica Verity, 1926, ferghana Stauder, 1924, nitidissima Verity, 1926 for Middle Asia; and asiaemontium Verity, 1926 for the Altai Mts.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. The species is widely distributed in all meadow and steppe habitats; in the mountains it reaches the subalpine zone (1,500-2,000 m a.s.l.), being rather common there. Development in two or, in the south, three generations. Flight period: April (in Turkmenia from March) to October, in the central European part in May-June and July-August. Larvae hibernating. Host plants (Buckler, 1886; Nekrutenko, 1990; Hesselbarth et al., 1995; etc.): Poaceae (Poa, Nardus, Stipa, Cynosurus, Dactilis, Festuca, Anthoxanthum, Brachypodium, etc.).

· SIMILAR SPECIES. C. caeca: FW without apical spots. C. tullia: FW apical spot smaller. C. symphita: UNH without white spot and almost always with a complete row of spots.

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997