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LEPIDOPTERA

Hyponephele rubriceps (Herz, 1900)
Hyponephele rubriceps (Herz, 1900)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Urgut" [Mt. Urgut, Zeravshansky Mts., Uzbekistan].

· SYNONYMS. karakongrada Dubatolov, 1991; toharica Dubatolov et Sergeev, 1991.

· RANGE. Confined to S. Ghissar.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The species is known from the Baisun-Tau and Kuhitangtau mts.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Dry clayey-stony steppe habitats at 1,000-1,700 m a.s.l. Flight period: May-July.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. All three syntypes of rubriceps described as a variety of haberhaueri have been recovered by V.A. Lukhtanov in the collection of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. A close re-examination of the types has revealed that they have nothing to do with E. haberhaueri: two of them are conspecific with the recently described H. toharica Dubatolov et Sergeev, 1991, while the third is conspecific with H. pseudokirgisa J.J. Shchetkin, 1984. One of the syntypes, best corresponding to Herz's description, was designated by Lukhtanov as the lectotype of rubriceps.

In 1991, V. Dubatolov described the subspecies H. toharica karakongrada from the Kuhitangtau Mts. However, examination of a series of topotypic specimens at our disposal and a comparison with the original description and figure of the nominate toharica arouse great doubts as to the subspecific status of karakongrada.

Hence, the designation of the lectotype of rubriceps and the subsequent investigations have led to the following formal synonyms: H. rubriceps (Herz, 1900), stat. nov. = toharica Dubatolov et Sergeev, 1991, syn. nov.; = karakongrada Dubatolov, 1991, syn. nov.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. H. pseudokirgisa: larger; male androconial stripe outwardly curved in its lower part and always extending over vein 2a; inner margin of FW black-brown marginal area more or less straight; genitalia different.

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