LEPIDOPTERA
PIERIDAE Duponchel,1835
COLIAS Fabricius,1807
Colias hecla Lefebvre, 1836
Colias hecla Lefebvre, 1836
• RANGE . Tundras of Eurasia and N. America.
• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Represented by the following subspecies: ssp. sulitelma Aurivillius, 1890 - the N. European part, NW. Siberia; ssp. orientis Wnukowsky, 1929 (= orientalis Grum-Grshimailo, 1899, nom. praeoccup.) - NE. Siberia, the Chukot Region, the Far East.
• HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Lowland and mountain tundras. Flight period: July-August. Host plant in the Scandinavia (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982) - Astragalus alpinus, Amoria repens, Arctostaphylos, Vaccinium; in the Polar Urals (Gorbunov, Korshunov, 1995) - Hedysarum sp. Larvae or pupae hibernating.
• SIMILAR SPECIES. C. hyperborea: larger; FW more strongly produced with apex pointed; UPH base with an androconial spot. C. viluiensis: UPS ground colour reddish-orange with dark border differently shaped.
Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997