The Glossary of Special Terms

   Aedeagus: a sperm-conducting tube in the male genitalia.
   Allotype: the specimen of the sex opposite to the holotype 
chosen from the paratypes.
   Anal margin of the wing: the hind (in a butterfly with the 
wings spread) margin of the fore wing and the inner margin, 
adjacent to the abdomen, of the hind wing, from the wing base to 
the anal angle.  
   Androconia: the specialized smelling scales on the wings of 
males, either dispersed, and so inconspicouos, or grouped into 
the so-called sex-brands, their shape is often of a taxonomic 
value (see Fig....).
   Antennal club: a conspicuous swelling at the tip of the an 
tenna in butterflies.
   Apex of the wing: the bend, sometimes pointed, of the wing 
margin between its fore and outer sections.  
   auct.: auctorum: a term designating that a given name was 
applied for the taxon considered by some authors, that is 
considered as erroneous in a given tet.  
   Author of the name of a genus, species, subspecies, etc.: 
except for the special cases,  the person who has first 
published the description of the taxon.  
   Band: an element of wing pattern - a contiguous stripe or a 
row of adjacent spots going across the wing.
   Basal area of the wing: an area occupying about 1/8 of the total 
wing area at the root. 
   Border: an element of the wing pattern adjacent to a margin.
   Brackets (): used in systematics mostly for enclosing the author 
and date of description of a species or subspecies name if it was 
described in a combination with a different generic name than in a 
given work, and also for enclosing the name of superspecies or 
subgenus added between the names of the genus and species.. 
   Brood or  generation: the life circle of a butterfly 
consisting of four stages: ovum (an egg), larva (a caterpillar), 
pupa (a chrysalis), and imago (an adult insect).
   Cell (on the wing): a cenrtral part of the butterfly wing 
embraced between two main veins (the subcostal and the medial) and 
as a rule closed proximally by a short transversal vein.
   Codex: an abbreviated reference to the International Codex of 
Zoological Nomenclature, which contains the modern rules of 
zoological nomenclature.
   Discoidal area: an area of the wing between the basal area 
and the postdiscoidal area, the conventional boundary of the 
discoidal and postdiscoidal area goes through the discoidal 
vein. 
   Discoidal spot: an element of the wing pattern, a spot, usually 
rounded, at the transversal vein. 
   Dorsal side: the upper side when the axis of the body or an 
organ is horizontal.  
   Egg (ovum): the first stage in the butterfly life cycle; a 
female lays dozens or hundreds of eggs, singly or in butches 
(clusters), usually on the larval foodplant, or they are scattered 
by a flying fgemale over the substrate.
   Endemic: in our case - a butterfy species confined to a 
restricted territory.
   Family (Lat. Familia): a taxonomic rank superior to the 
genus, a family includes related genera (sometimes - a single 
genus). 
   Fauna: a set of animals of a given group (e.g. butterflies) 
inhabited a certain territory.
   Form: the lowest taxonomic rank used to be used for designation 
of any individual differing from the type in any characters, i.e. 
for manifestation of individual - seasonal, ecological or genetic 
variation.
   Genitalia: the outer sexual organs of the adult insect: a 
complex chitinous structure at the end of the body being of a 
great diagnostic importance in systematics (see Fig...). While 
examining a dry specimen one has to prepare its genitalia by 
boiling them in 2-5% alkali solution in order to dissolve the 
tissues.  
   Genus (pl. genera): a taxonomic rank superior to the species, a 
genus includes related species (sometimes - a single species). 
   Flight, flight time: the time of leaving of the imagines of a 
butterfly species.
   Foodplant(s): the plant species, one, few, or many (often 
belonging to the same family) on which the larvae of a butterfly 
species feed.  
   Fore (costal) margin of the wing: the section of the wing 
margin going from the wing base to the apex (See Fig... ). 
   Fore wing length: the distance between the base and the apex 
of the fore wing.
   Fringe: modified scales situated at the outer margfin of the 
wings (see Fig....)   
   Harpe: a projection sprouting from the inner surface of the 
valva in the male genitalia (see fig....).
   Holarctic - a zoogeographical region occupying the non-
tropical part of North Hemisphere and subdivided into Palearctic 
and Nearctic.
   Holotype: the only specimen on which a new species or 
subspecies is based in the first description, it is a standard 
of this taxon and so should be preserved in a museum collection 
where it is available for investigation. 
   Imago: an adult, the resulting stage of the life cycle of an 
insect which possesses wings and is capable of reproduction.  
   Instar: the time period between two subsequent moults of a 
larva, which in butterflies usually have five instars.
   Larva or caterpillar (See fig...): the second (after the egg) 
and the most prolonged stage of a life circle when the insect 
grows and accumulates internal resources of nutrients.  
   Lepidopterology: the science concerning butterflies and 
moths, united into the order Lepidoptera.
   Localness of distribution: disposition of a species within 
its range in local populations distant from each other.  
   Migrations: flight of the butterfly imagines to far 
distances, among butterflies certain Pieridae and large 
Nymphalidae are typical migrants.  
   Nearctic: a zoogeographical region including the non-tropical 
North America.  
   Nominotypical subspecies: the subspecies to which the 
holotype of the species belongs, its name coincides with the 
name of the species, e.g. Papilio machaon machaon.  
   Ocellus: an element of the wing pattern being a round spot 
often centered with a pupil of a different colour.
   Omonyms: each of  two or more available names of different 
species or subspecies within the same genus which has the same 
spelling, only the oldest of which should be used as a valid 
name.
   Original description (first description): a published verbal 
description of the type specimens of a new taxon which is made 
the first time and in agreement with the Codex.
   Osmeterium: a fleshy suction fork on the first thoracic 
segment in the larvae of the family Papilionidae producing a 
smelling secretion for protection from predators. 
   Outer margin of wings: the section of the wing margin which 
is most distant from the body and goes from the wing apex to the 
anal angle (See Fig...)  
   Palearctic: a zoogeographical region including the non-
tropical Euroasia and North Africa.
   Palpi (pl.): three-segmented appendages of the mouth arising at 
the sides of the proboscis base.
   Paratypes: all specimens, except for the holotype, designated 
in the original descriptions as belonging to the new taxon 
described. 
   Parthenogenesis: sexual reproduction of females witthout 
participation of males, parthenogenetic races arise from time to 
time in some species with a common mode of reproduction; in 
butterflies the phenomenom is not unambiguously reported yet. 
   Postdiscoidal area of the wing: an area between the discoidal 
and submarginal areas (see Fig...). 
   Preimaginal stages: the stages off the life cycle which 
precede the imago, i.e. the egg, the larva, and the pupa.
   Proboscis: a tube-like part of the mouth apparatus of an adult 
butterfly, coiled when not used.
   Pupa: an immovable stage of the butterfly life cycle 
intermediate between the larva and the imago. In butterflies the 
pupa can be "hanging", i.e. attached upside down with the 
cremaster (the hooks at the apex of the abdomen), "girdled", 
i.e. attached with the cremaster and a belt of silken threads 
going across the middle of the body, placed in a loose cocoon on 
a plant or the ground, or lying freely on the ground.  
   Pupation: the process of transforming the larva into the 
pupa, including a moult.  
   Seasonal dimorphism: the difference of the characters of 
imagines of different broods of the same species resulting from 
the influence of climatic factors on the preimaginal stages; in 
butterflies the broods can differ either in colouration (e.g. in 
the genus Araschnia) or in size (e.g. in Papilio xuthus). 
   Scales: tiny chitinous plates covering the wings and body of a 
butterfly or moth in a tile manner.
   Segments: repeated sections, similar in structure, of the 
insect body. 
   Sexual dimorphism: the difference between males and females 
of the same species; in butterflies the males are usually 
smaller and have a more vivid colouration.
   Species (pl. species): the basic taxonomic rank in the 
zoological systematics: a set of individuals potentially capable of 
mutual mating and producing a fertile progeny, inhabiting a 
definite territory and possessing a number of common morphological 
characters and ecological features. 
   Species group: a complex of closely related and similar 
species, its name can be added in brackets between the names of 
the genus and species in a binomen.
   Sphragis: a hard chitinous appendage at the underside of the 
abdomen tip of females of the butterflies of the tribe Parnassiini 
formed (secreted) by a male juct after mating.
   Spiracles: outer respiratory openings, one of which situated 
on either side of each segment (see Fig....).
   Square brackets []: used in systematics mostly for enclosing 
the author and date of description of a taxon if they were not 
specified at the original description and are inferred by 
indirect evidence. 
   Subfamily (Lat. Subfamilia): a taxonomic rank superior to the 
genus and inferior to the family.
   Submarginal area: an area at the outer margin of the wing (See 
Fig...).
   Suborder (Lat. Subordo): a taxonomic rank superior to the 
superfamily and inferior to the order.
   Subspecies: a taxonomic rank below species, a geographically 
defined set of populations in which the majority of individuals 
(not less than 75%) differ in some characters from individuals 
of the same species from other places. 
   Subunci (pl.): paired processes of the tegmen in the male 
genitalia situated under the uncus from a side view (see Fig...).  
   Superspecies: see species group.
   Superfamily (Lat. Superfamilia): a taxonomic rank superior to the 
family and inferior to the suborder.
   Synonyms: each of two or more names of the same taxonomical 
rank proposed for designating the same taxon, the oldest of the 
synonyms stated in agreement with the Codex should be used (is a 
valid name).
   Systematics: a scientific discipline concerning description 
of living organisms and investigation of their relatedness. 
   Tail: a processus at the anal angle of the hind wing in certain 
butterflies.
   Taxon: a systematic unit of any rank, a group of organisms 
united by a given degree of closeness or relatedness.
   Tegumen: a widened, usually dome-shaped, part of the male 
genitalia situated dorsally (see Fig..).
   Transversal vein (discoidal vein): a short vein (sometimes 
considered as several joint veins) between the subcostal and 
median veins, closing the cell; it is directed transversally to 
other veins.  
   Tribe (Lat. Tribus): a taxonomic rank superior to the genus and 
inferior tothe subfamily.
   Type locality (of a taxon): a geographic point of collecting the 
holotype (the lectotype, the syntype) of a taxon.
   Type species: the species on which a newly described genus is 
based, it servs as an objectiove standard of the genus.  
   Uncus: a suction axial processus of the tegumen in the male 
genitalia (see Fig....)
   Valva (the cluspers): relatively  large paired organs in the 
male genitalia, their shape is often of a key importens for 
systematics (see Fig...).
   Variation: a property of living organisms to differ from each 
other due to the influence of the environment or inherited 
factors. The varieties of the geographical variations inhabiting 
different parts of the range can be described as subspecies.
   Veins: rigid tubes gonig through the wings, supporting their 
membranous par,t and functionning as blood-vessels. 
   Ventral side: the lower side when the axis of the body 
or an organ is horizontal.