LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • LASIOMMATA Westwood, 1849

    
    

    • Lasiommata petropolitana (Fabricius, 1787)

Lasiommata petropolitana (Fabricius, 1787)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "Petropol" [St. Petersburg, Russia].

· RANGE. Europe and temperate Asia (except for the extreme north) to Mongolia, the Amur region and NE. China.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominate subspecies (= hiera Fabricius, 1777, nomen nudum) occurs in the central European part. In addition, the following taxa are known: ssp. ominata (Krulikovsky, 1903) - the N. European part, the Urals, W. Siberia; ssp. sestia (Fruhstorfer, 1908) - the Altai; ssp. falcidia (Fruhstorfer, 1908) - Transbaikalia, the Far East, the Amur region.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. The status of the above taxa requires further studies as some of them may prove to be only infrasubspecific forms.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Coniferous and mixed forests up to the upper forest line in the mountains. Flight period: May-July. Host plants (Eckstein, 1913; Nekrutenko, 1990; Hesselbarth et al., 1995; etc.): grasses (Festuca, Poa). Pupae hibernating.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. L. maera: UPH fine broken line across veins absent. L. menava: wings produced, ground colour lighter, UNF discal spot silky or pearlish-grey. L. adrastoides: UPF with contrasting ochreous-yellow bright spots in both sexes.

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