LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • HYPONEPHELE Mushamp, 1915

    
    

    • Hyponephele kirghisa (Alpheraky, 1881)

Hyponephele kirghisa (Alpheraky, 1881)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Kouldja" [Mazar near Kuldzha, E. Tian-Shan, W. China].

· RANGE. N. and E. Tian-Shan, ?N. Alai, S. Mongolia.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominate subspecies (= terskeana Lukhtanov, 1994) is found in the southern part of Dzhungarsky Alatau, the Ketmen Mts., Zailiisky Alatau, Kunghei-Alatau, including Boomsky Canyon, and Terskei-Alatau. Specimens from the Kirghizsky Mts. have been distinguished as the ssp. obscurata Samodurov, 1996. Subspecific affiliation of the populations from the SW. Altai requires clarification.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. The status of the var. sartha Grum-Grshimailo, 1890, which was described from a single female holotype from the N. slopes of the Alaisky Mts., is still unclear; most probably it is an aberrant specimen of some other species. Also unclear is the status of the taxon chamyla Staudinger, 1899, which is regarded by some authors as a separate species, while some others treat it as a subspecies or even as an extremely darkened infrasubspecific form of H. kirghisa.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Eroded clayey-stony steppe habitats at 1,800-2,500 m a.s.l. Flight period: July-August.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. H. laeta: smaller; FW without ochreous-yellow colour (except in the ssp. ochracea). H. sheljuzhkoi: as a rule, UPH without ochreous-yellow colour; eye-spot in spaces Cu1-Cu2 in male mostly absent.

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