LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • HYPONEPHELE Mushamp, 1915

    
    

    • Hyponephele davendra (Moore, 1865)

Hyponephele davendra (Moore, 1865)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Spiti" [NW. Himalaya, India].

· RANGE. From S. Iran across Afghanistan and Middle Asia to W. Pakistan and NW. India.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. In the Ghissarsky, Zeravshansky, Turkestansky mts., the ssp. seravschana Lukhtanov, 1996 occurs; over the northern slopes of the Alaisky Mts., N. and Inner Tian-Shan - ssp. fergana Lukhtanov, 1996; populations from the Kopet-Dagh and S. Ghissar (Kuhitangtau, Baisun-Tau, the mountains around the South-Tadjik Depression) belong to the ssp. latistigma (Moore, 1893) (= kondoi Howarth et Povolny, 1976). H. korshunovi Lukhtanov, 1995, described from W. Tian-Shan, seems to be nothing else but a subspecies of H. davendra. However, a profound revision of material from different localities is desirable to clarify the taxonomy of the "davendra"-complex in Middle Asia.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Stony and eroded steppe habitats with xerophytic vegetation and exposed rock at 400-3,000 m a.s.l. Flight period: (April) May to August in one or two generations.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. H. brevistigma: male androconial area short, sometimes reduced to totally absent. H. tenuistigma: smaller; androconial area long and narrow; genitalia different. H. issykkuli: androconial area short; UPF base darkened in both sexes; HW outer edge conspicuously less strongly undulate. H. korshunovi: UPF ground colour red-brown.

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