LEPIDOPTERA
PIERIDAE Duponchel,1835
COLIAS Fabricius,1807
Colias aurorina Herrich-Schaffer, [1850]
Colias aurorina Herrich-Schaffer, [1850]
• RANGE . From Turkey across Asia Minor to the Caucasus, Iran and Kopet-Dagh.
• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominate subspecies occurs in Transcaucasia; the ssp. daghestanica Verhulst, 1994 in the Caucasus Major (Daghestan and the Mt. Elbrus area); the ssp. transcaspica Christoph, 1889 in Kopet-Dagh.
• HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. A resident species of xerophilous habitats at 800-1,500 m a.s.l. with thorny astragals (Astracantha caucasica, A. denudata), the host plants (Nekrutenko, 1990). Flight period: May-July.
Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997