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NOTE: the text corresponds to (Korshunov & Gorbunov, 195) with additions
and corrections (Korshunov, 1996) incorporated
SUPERFAMILIA HESPERIOIDEA Latreille, 1809 (= Grypocera Karsh, 1893)
FAMILIA HESPERIIDAE
"Skippers", the butterflies of small, rarely of intermediate size.
The antennal club is rather smooth, hooked in some genera. The head is
wide (its width exceeding the length), with widely set eyes; being
covered with dense hairs, the head seems even more wide. The thorax is
also wide due to the well developed wing muscles which allow a swift
and impetuous flight being a characteristic of these butterflies. The
fore wings are triangular in shape. All the legs are equally developed.
The larvae are naked, short, spindle-shaped; they live in the leaves
fastened with silken threads, hibernate and pupate in loose silken
shelters on the ground or among the leaves of foodplants.
The world fauna contains about 3600 species of skippers, mostly
distributed in the tropics and subtropics. There are about 100 species
in the temperate Eurasia and 53 in the Asian Russia.
SUBFAMILIA COELIADINAE Evans, 1949
GENUS BIBASIS Moore, 1881.
Type species: Goniloba sena Moore, 1816.
An East- and South-Asian genus with 18 species.
1. Bibasis aquilina (Speyer, 1879).
TYPE LOCALITY: S Primorye: Vladivostok
RANGE: South Primorye, NE.China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: mostly native valley and montane broad-leaved forests and
stone pine (Pinus koraiensis)/deciduous mixed forests. The imagines
keep to tall herbage at forest edges and occur under the tree canopy,
they often visit flowers of Apiaceae and Sorbaria sorbifolia,
frequently are observed on wet ground.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/middle August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984). Foodplant:
Kalopanax septemlobum (Araliaceae). Eggs: usually inside old larval
dwelling on the foodplant. The larva hibernates in the second instar in
a peculiar cocoon on the bark of the food tree, later constructs a
dwelling in the leaves of the foodplant. The last instar larva is
greyish-brown with several lengthwise light lines, the head is orange-
read. Pupa: light-brown with dense white suffusion, in a loose silken
shelter on the foodplant.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 20-25 mm. The wings are brown, the
fore wing underside has yellow spots.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The continental part of the range is inhabited
by a nominotypical subspecies.
SUBFAMILIA PYRGINAE
GENUS LOBOCLA Moore, 1884.
Type species: Plesioneura liliana Atkinson, 1871.
An East-Asian genus with 8 species.
2. Lobocla bifasciata (Bremer et Grey, 1852) 0.
TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.
RANGE: South Primorye, North-East, Central and South China, Korea.
HABITAT: meadows and openings in valley broad-leaved forests, dry open
oak woodland on mountain slopes. A rare species.
FLIGHT PERIOD: July/early August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 23-25 mm. The wings are black, the
fore wing has a wide white band, the hind wing has no band.
GENUS SATARUPA Moore, 1866.
Type species: Satarupa gopula Moore, 1865.
An East- and South-Asian genus with 7 species.
3. Satarupa nymphalis (Speyer, 1879).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur.
RANGE: South Primorye, North-East and Central China, Korea.
HABITAT: meadow patches, open tree-stands and river valleys in broad-
leaved and mixed forests. These skippers have a very swift flight, they
often rest on flowers of Apiaceae, Sorbaria sorbifolia, or Cirsium
maackii.
FLIGHT PERIOD: July/August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in S Primorye (M.M. and M.A. Omel'ko,
1981). Foodplant: Phellodendron amurensis (Rutaceae). In the first half
of July females are observed which swiftly fly around the Phellodendron
crown and for a short time sit down on leaf edges at the height about 2
m and higher, with the wings widely spread, to lay eggs. They make up
tp 2-3 ovipositions on a tree. The eggs are laid as a chain or two
adjacent chains containing from 1-3 to 6-11 eggs. Eggs: relatively
large, chestnut-coloured, hemispheric with distinct ribs . The larvae
hatch on twelfth day, usually in the morning, they make a large round
holo on the egg top. They are about 3 nn long, yellowish-green, naked,
with black head. The young larva constructs a peculiar shelter by
cutting a small triangular plate off a leaf edge and bending it to
contact with the leaf surface. The larva hides, with its back down, in
this shelter. The shelters of the larvae of the same group are placed
at the lateral rib of the same leaf . The larva feeds, usually in the
morning, on the edges of the neighbouring leaves, making a silken path
there. The first moult happen on 7th day, the second one on 15th day.
The larvae overwinter in small groups in a special nest: they spin the
upper surface of the leaflets and the main petiolus of a leaf to make
the leaflets roll to form a winter shelter. (If there were only 1-3
larvae in an oviposition, they migrate to a smaller leaf for
hibernation). To the late September the larvae span the shelter so as
only a small hole is left for the excrement to drop off, in early
October they close this hole also. In the late May the larvae abandon
the winter shelter and each constructs a new shelter by fastening two
young leaves one above another. In this shelter the larva spends the
daytime but leaves it for feeding in twilight. The third moult take
place in early June, the fourth one 11 days after. A mature larva
constructs another shelter from several leaves and spin it inside with
the silk. In this shelter it also pupates. Pupa: 28-29 mm long, its
stage lasts for 21-22 days. Soon after forming the pupa acquires a waxy
bloom.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 17-20 mm (the largest of our
skippers). The white band on the hind wing is wide and contiguous, on
the fore wing it is split into separate spots.
GENUS DAIMIO Murray, 1875.
Type species: Pyrgus tethys Menetries, 1857.
An East- and South-Asian genus with 7 species.
4. Daimio tethis (Menetries, 1857).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: Priamurye (from the Zeya to the Anyuy rivers), Primorye, North-
East and Central China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: forest edges, meadow openings and parklands within broad-
leaved and mixed forests.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in West Primorye in two broods: middle May/middle June,
and July/August; at higher altitudes on the Sikhote-Alin' and in
Priamurye - in a single brood in June.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Priamurye at Khabarovk (Graeser, 1888).
Foodplants: Quercus mongolica, Corylus heterophylla, C. mandshurica in
Priamuryue (Graeser, 1888), Dioscorea niphonica in Japan (Fukuda et
al., 1984). Eggs: round yellowish-brown, laid singly on the foodplant
leaves and covered by a bunch of hairs from the abdomen of the female.
Larva: dove-coloured with a dark rounded head, very densely covered
with short reddish hairs making a peculiar reddish-green bloom, it
lives solitarily. Pupa: light-brown with white triangular markings, in
a rolled silk-spun leaf.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 17-20 mm. The fore wing has three
round translucid spots, the hind wing lacks bands.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: ssp. lineata Mabille et Boullet, 1916 is known
from the Russian Far East.
GENUS ERYNNIS Schrank, 1801.
Type species: Papilio tages Linnaeus, 1758.
F.w.l.: 13-20 mm in our species. The fore wing upperside is brownish
with two transversal dark bands; the fringe is evenly brown.
A Holarctic genus with 17 species, the majority of which inhabit USA.
5. Erynnis montanus (Bremer, 1861).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur.
RANGE: Priamurye (downstream to the Gorin river), Primorye, NE. China,
Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: steppefied meadows within oak light woodland, openings and
edges of deciduous and mixed forests with the participation of the oak;
up to the alpine zone in the mountains. In Primorye the imagines were
observed to feed on Rhododendron dauricum flowers, they keep to pools
and banks in a hot weather.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late April/early June, in Kunashir up to early July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984). Foodplants:
Quercus mongolica). Eggs: round, ribbed, at first light-yellow, later
reddish-brown, laid by 1-2 at the bud bases Larva: greenish-yellow with
yellow back and lateral streaks and scattered black dots; the head is
brown with four yellow spots. It lives usually solitarily, pupates in
autumn between withered leaves fastened with silk. Pupa: reddish-brown,
hibernates.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 18-20 mm. The fore wing upperside is
reddish-brown with three grey bands; the hind wing upperside is dark-
brown with two rows of yellowish-orange spots. Females are well
distinguished by a greyish bloom on the fore wing upperside.
6. Erynnis tages (Linnaeus, 1758).
TYPE LOCALITY: Sweden (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982)
RANGE: Europe, Anterior and Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, South
Siberia eastwards to Zabaikalye and Blagoveshchensk in Priamurye. In
Siberia it is rather a rare and local species.
HABITAT: meadow patches at river banks, forest edges and cuttings, pine
forests and birch groves ["kolki"], larch parklands.
FLIGHT PERIOD: May/June and August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982).
Foodplants: Fabaceae: Coronilla, Eryngium, Lotus, Medicago lupulina
etc.; Apiaceae are also reported. Eggs: light greenish-yellow, later
become orange, hemisphaeric with 9 lengthwise ribs. Larva: light-green,
sprinkled over with black dots, with yellow back and lateral lines and
a brown head with four yellow spots; it hibernates and later pupates in
rolled leaves. Pupa: dark-brown with a green fore end and wing cases.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The fore wing upperside is
dark brown with two obscure darker bands; the underside is greyish-
brown with white or yellowish dots at the edges. Similar species: E.
popoviana.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The area considered is inhabited by the
nominotypical subspecies.
7. Erynnis popoviana (Nordmann, 1851).
TYPE LOCALITY: South Zabaikalye: Kyakhta.
RANGE: Zabaikalye, Upper and Middle Priamurye (the Zeysko-Bureyskaya
Lowland, the Minor Hinghan), Primorye (the Prikhankaiskaya [pertained
to lake Khanka] Lowland), E.Mongolia, NE China, Korea.
HABITAT: steppefied meadows, often met on the wet ground. In Zabaikalye
these buterflies observed together with E. tages.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/middle July.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. 14-17 mm. The fore wing upperside is
dark brown with two dark bands; the hind wing has two rows of whitish
spots at the outer margin both on the upperside and underside. From a
similar species E. tages this differs by the genitalia structure,
larger size and more contrasted light dots at the outer margin of the
hind wing..
ETYMOLOGY: Nikolay Ivanovich Popov - an inspector of schools of the
Southern district of the Irkutsk Province, collected insects in 1846-
1850, mainly in the surroundings of Kyakhta.
GENUS CARCHARODUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio alceae Esper, 1780.
F.w.l.: 13-18 mm. The wing upperside varies in colour from olive to
dark-brown and has a diffuse ornament composed of lighter patches. The
fore wing has transparent spots; the fringe is chequered.
A West Palearctic genus including eight species.
8. Carcharodus lavatherae (Esper, 1780).
TYPE LOCALITY: South France.
RANGE: S Europe, N Africa, Anterior Asia, South Ural (the surroundings
of Orenburg, the Sakmara River).
HABITAT: steppes, mostly on slopes with limestone outcrops.
FLIGHT PERIOD:late June/middle of July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Forster, Wohlfahrt, 1955).
Foodplants: Stachys recta (Lamiaceae), less frequently Lavathera
thuringiaca (Malvaceae). Eggs: oval-shaped with fine slanting ribs,
yellowish, laid singly on the foodplant leaves or stems. Larva:
blueish-grey with two dark streaks along the back and lighter lateral
streaks. It hibernates between silk-fastened leaves. Pupa: dark-brown
with a blue bloom, with short light hairs on the fore end and on a
blunt cremaster.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-17 mm. The wing upperside is
olive-brown with large diffuse white areas, the underside is whitish;
the sex-brands are absent
9. Carcharodus alceae (Esper, 1780) 0.
TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.
RANGE: Central and South Europe, Anterior and Central Asia eastwards to
the West Himalayas and northwards to the piedmonts of South Ural, the
southern West Siberian Lowland and the Altai Mts. piedmonts.
HABITAT: steppes and, sometimes, replacing cultural landscapes, ruderal
vegetation, wet forest meadows.
FLIGHT PERIOD: prolonged from May to middle July, in southern regions
butterflies of the second brood were recorded in August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913). Foodplants:
Malvaceae: Althea, Lavatera, Malva. Eggs: flattened, apically with a
dim, yellowish, later become grey. The larva hides in a shelter of
silk-spun leaf fragments, where it is usually found bent into a ring. A
young larva eats the leaf mesophyll leaving the veins, later it gnaws
out the holes. After each moult the larva constructs a new shelter on
the same leaf. It hibernates and pupates in spring, without additional
feeding, in a rolled lea. Mature larva: light-, reddish- or blueish-
grey, the segment joints are brownish-yellow. There are four dark lines
along the back and a light stripe on either side. The first segment is
black with large red or yellowish glossy spots, the head and thoracic
legs are black, the prolegs are brownish. Small dark warts, set with
dense and short whitish hairs, are scattered over the body. The
spiracles are whitish-yellow the lower part of the body changes from
blackish at the fore end to greenish-yellow at the rear end. The pupa
is brown with a blueish bloom, the thorax is very convex, the cremaster
bears fine hairs and hooks.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-16 mm. The wing upperside is brown
with lighter bands; the hind wing underside is greenish-grey with white
spots; the androconial brands are absent.
10. Carcharodus flocciferus (Zeller, 1847)
(= altheae Hubner, 1803).
TYPE LOCALITY: Sicily.
RANGE: South Europe, South and Middle Ural, the south of West and
Middle Siberia east to the Sayan piedmonts, the Altai Mts.
HABITAT: meadow patches on river banks, at forest edges and cuttings,
in birch groves, pine woods and on mountain slopes.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June/middle August, in one or two broods.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913). Foodplants:
Stachys, Dracocephalum, Leonurus and other Lamiaceae, and also Malva
(Krulikovskii, 1907). Larva: green with black segment joints and orange
spiracles; the head is dark set with black, yellow and white hairs.
Each segment bears three small light warts with bunches of long whitish
hairs. The first segment is yellowish-white with two dark spots
separated with a fine yellow streak prolonged into a dorsal line along
the body, which is splt on the abdominal segments. The thoracic legs
are dark, the prolegs are brownish. The larva hibernates. The pupa is
dark-brown with a greyish-glaucous bloom, its phase latst for about 20
days.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-17 mm. The wing upperside is dark-
brown, the hind wing underside is greyish-brown with white spots; on
the fore wing underside, at the base, there is a pussy sex-brand.
GENUS SYRICHTUS Boisduval, 1834.
Type species: Papilio proto Esper, [1805-1808].
F.w.l.:13-22 mm. The wing upperside is dark-brown or greenish-grey,
with light markings and a submarginal row of white spots parallel to
the outer margin. The wing underside ground colour is greenish-grey.
The genus includes more than ten Palearctic species
Syrichtus anthonia (Speyer, 1879).
TYPE LOCALITY: Lake Zaissan.
RANGE: Central Asia, East Kazakhstan southwards of the Kurchumskii
Mountain Range, Mongolia, West China. W.Ewans (1949), based on the
collections of the British Museum of Natural History, reported it for
Altai and Siberia. However, later this species was not found in the
mountains of South Siberia.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wing upperside is dark-
brown with large and bright white spots fused into bands; at the fore
wing apex there are five oblong intervein spots. The band on the hind
wing underside is orange-yellow with a black bordering.
Syrichtus staudingeri (Speyer, 1879).
TYPE LOCALITY: Lake Zaissan.
RANGE: Anterior and Central Asia, E. Kazakhstan. Subspecies proteus
Staudinger, 1886 was reported by W.Ewans (1949), together with the
previous species, for Altai and Siberia on the base of the collections
of the British Museum of Natural History, but later this species has
also never been reported for the Asian Russia.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The wing upperside ground
colour is dark-brown, the white spots being rather small; at the fore
wing apex there are three oblong spots between the veins; the costal
margin of the fore wing and the anal margin of the hind wing are
suffused by greenish-grey scales; the hind wing underside is of a
reddish-brown ground colour.
ETYMOLOGY: Otto Staudinger (1830-1900) - a famous lepidopterologists.
11. Syrichtus cribrellum (Eversmann, 1841).
TYPE LOCALITY: "South Ural and the Volga Basin" (Orenburg, Bashkiria,
Sergievsk, Tsaritsyn, Sarepta).
RANGE: The steppe zone of Eurasia, from East Europe through South Ural
and South Siberia and Mongolia to the Bol'shoy Khingan, village
Pokrovka and the town Blagoveshchensk in Priamurye; eastwards from Tuva
the species becomes rare.
HABITAT: steppes, dry meadows on mountain slopes, rocks and screes,
patches of steppen vegetation alongside the roads; the imagines tend to
rest on stones, the males defend individual areas.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle May/August, in two broods.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Potentilla has been reported as a foodplant. Larva:
light-green with black specks and yellow streaks along the back and
either side; the head is brown with four yellow spots.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside is
brownish-grey or brown, on the hind wing underside there is a full band
formed by roundish white spots and a wide row of fused white spots
along the outer margin. The white streak on the transversal vein is
absent. Similar species: S. tesselum.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: South Ural is inhabited by the nominotypical
subspecies, the Upper Ob' Basin [Priobye] and the mountains of South
Siberia - by ssp. obscurior Staudinger, 1892.
12. Syrichtus tessellum (Hubner, 1803).
TYPE LOCALITY: South Russia.
RANGE: The forest-steppe (the grove-belt) and steppe zones of Eurasia
from SE Europe and Antherior Asia through southern Ural and Siberia to
the Prilenskoe Plateau and Upper Priamurye and Primorye. In the Far
East only few specimens were collected.
HABITAT: meadows and steppe patches in river valleys, forest glades
and edges and mountain slopes.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in the forest-steppe zone in middle May/late June and
late July/middle August in two broods, the second broods is scanty, it
is not excluded that the eggs laid by the second broods hibernate
together with mature larvae of the first brood prigeny.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in the southern Priuralye (Bartel, 1914).
Foodplants: Phlomis tuberosum, Ph. pungens (Lamiaceae). Hibernation on
the stage of egg or larva. Mature larva: thick, somewhat tapering to
both ends, covered with relatively long hairs, its colour varies from
light-grey to violet-grey, there is a row of relatively large black
dots going along the back and one or two rows of smaller dots on the
sides, the spiracles are yellow; the head is black, rough, covered with
hairs; the first segment of the body is yellow with two black spots on
either side (fore of which may be absent). The thoracic legs are dark,
the prolegs are yellow. The larva lives in silk-spun leaves in the
upper parts of young shoots, later also on silk-fastened large leaves.
It pupates in the same shelter. From the Novosibirsk Region
V.V.Dubatolov and O.E. Kosterin described the larva as greenish-grey
with a brown head and transversal stripe on the first segment of the
body.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-20 mm. The wing upperside is
brownish-grey or brown with rows of white spots. On the hind wing
underside there is a full band formed by angular white spots and two
(often fused) rows of white spots along the outer margin. On the fore
wing there is a white transversal stripe on the transversal vein.
Similar species: S. cribrellum, S. gigas.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The nominotypical subspecies is known from the
southern parts of Ural and West Siberia, the form cribrelloides
Warren,1926 occurs there together with the typical one; ssp nigricans
Mabille, 1909, differing by a reduced white marking and a darker
(muddy-green) hind wing underside ground colour, inhabits the mountains
of S. Siberia and Central Yakutia, from Priamurye the subspecies minor
Mabille, 1909 was described, which is characterized by a small size, a
dark ground colour of the upperside, noticeably enlarged postdiscal
white spots as compared with the submarginal ones
13. Syrichtus gigas (Bremer, 1864).
TYPE LOCALITY: S. Primorye: the Posiett Bay.
RANGE: E Mongolia, NE China, Middle Priamurye (The Blagoveshchensk
environs), S Primorye.
HABITAT: montane open oak woodland, steppefied meadows.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June/early August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-23 mm. Differs from the similar
species S. tesselum by a larger size and smaller white spots of which
the submarginal spots are reduced to dots.
GENUS SPIALIA Swinchoe in Moore, 1912.
Type species: Hesperia galba Fabricius, 1793.
The genus includes 30 species ranging in the Old World.
14. Spialia orbifer (Hubner, 1823).
(= sertorius auct. non Hoffmansegg, 1804).
TYPE LOCALITY: Hungary (de Jong, 1974).
RANGE: The non-tropical Eurasia northwards to the southern taiga belt.
A local species known from the Asian Russia by scarce findings.
HABITAT: meadow patches in open woodland, birch groves, pine woods,
river valleys and mountain slopes. The imagines were onserved to feed
on flowers of Trifolium, often seen on wet ground.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June, in the mountains up to the first half of July,
mostly in a single brood in the territory considered.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Sanguisorba minor (Higgins, Riley,
1980).
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-14 mm. The wing upperside is dark-
brown or almost black with small white markings; the hind wing
underside is dark with three large round white spots forming almost a
regular triangle.
SYSTEMATIC NOTE: This species sometimes has been mentionned under the
names Hesperia sao Hb. or H.sao Brgstr. (which are invalid as
homonyms), or as a subspecies of Spialia sertorius Hoffmansegg, 1804
(this species is distributed in Europe and the part of North Africa
adjacent to Spain).
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The subspecies lugens (Staudinger, 1886),
described from Ferghana (Uzbekistan) has been reported for the
territory considered: R. De Jong (1974, p.55) has mentioned Onguday
(Altai) and Tetyukhe (Primorye). However, the taxon lugens seems to ne
an independent species not entering N Asia. The buterflies from S Ural
and Siberia, and also from the mountains of Kazakhstan, are closer to
the nominotypical subspecies (V. and A. Lukhtanov, 1994). They differ
from lugens from the Pamiro-Alai Mts. by a dark upperside ground
colour, small white spots, an even ground colour of the hind wing
underside (without light-brown spots) , and also by the structure of
male genitalia. From subspecies orbifer they differ by more elongated
wings and a muddy-greenish-brown hind wing underside ground colour
(usually brown in orbifer). These butterflies are described as ssp.
pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, 1995
Spialia orbifer pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, 1995
Original description:
"...For Siberia and Primorye the taxon lugens Staudinger, 1886,
stated from the region of the Ferghana town, was reported (de Jong,
1978). It seems, however, to be an independent species of no relation
to the fauna of North Asia. Butterflies from S Ural, S. Siberia, and
the mountains of E Kazakhstan are close to the nominotypical subspecies
(V. und A. Lukhtanov, 1994). From a typical lugens from the Pamiro-Alai
Mts. they differ by a dark ground colour of the wing upperside, small
size of white marks, an even colouration of the hind wing underside
(without pale-brown spots), and also the male genitalia structure. From
the subspecies orbifer they differ by more elongate wings and muddy-
greenish-brown ground colour of the wing underside (which is usually
brown in the subspecies orbifer). By these characters a subspecies
Spialia orbifer pseudolugens P. Gorbunov, sbsp. n. is being stated.
F.w.l. in the type series is 11.2-13.2 mm in males and 13.1-13.8 in
females. The hind wing underside ground colour in females is brown-
ochre, much lighter than in males.
MATERIALS: The holotype: a male - 10.06.1994, W Altai, the station
Turgusun environs, the Osinovka River valley (P.Yu. Gorbunov).
Paratypes: 9 males 1 female - the same locality; 2 males - 28.05.1995,
the same locality (Yu.A. Shevnin); 2 males - 16.06.1992, SE Altai, the
village Aktash (V.G. Barkhatov); a female - 29.06.1986, S. Ural, the
station Poletaevo (A. Razboinikov); 8 males 2 females - [the date was
dropped, it is 12.06.1993] the Dzhungarian Alatau Mt. Chain, the
environs of the village Tekeli [in fact it is a city - Yu. K.], the
Kora River, 1500 m (V. Dubatolov, O. Kosterin)."
GENUS PYRGUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio alveolus Hubner, [1800-1803].
F.w.l.: 11-19 mm. The wing upperside is black with white marking but
without a submarginal row of white spots. The hind wing underside
varies from sundy-coloured to dark and has white spots nearly forming a
medial band. Many species are very similar in appearance.
A Holarctic genus including about 30 species.
15. Pyrgus sidae (Esper, 1782).
TYPE LOCALITY: "the Volga".
RANGE: S. Europe, Anterior and Central Asia, S Ural (the basins of the
Sakmara and Belaya rivers), E Kazakhstan. More than 100 years ago the
species was mentioned, by the collections of A. Kindermann, by
J.Lederer (1853) for Altai (Ust'-Kamenogorsk and Ust'-Bukhtarma), but
later was not found there.
HABITAT: meadow steppes and steppefied meadows on mountain slopes.
Quite a rare species. Imagines was observed to feed on Apiaceae,
Fabaceae, Plantago, Thymus marschallianus.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Abutilon avicennae (Malvaceae) has been
reported (Jong, 1972; Higgins, Riley, 1980); for South Ural Potentilla
(Rosaceae) was supposed as a probable foodpland.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. 15-18 mm. On the hind wing underside
there are two yellow-orange transversal bands on a white background.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: S Ural are inhabited by ssp. sidae
16. Pyrgus carthami (Hubner, 1819) (= fritillarius auct., nec
Poda, 1761).
TYPE LOCALITY: S Germany.
RANGE: Europe (except for the North), S Ural, NW Kazakhstan. The
species was reported for southern West Siberian Lowland: Kurgan
(Voskresensky, 1959; Utkin, 1987), the surroundings of the town
Tatarsk and the villages Chistozernoe, Plotnikovo, Kornilovo,
Zavyalovo, and southwards of the town Kamen'-na-Obi (Meinghard, 1905;
Chugunov, 1911; Vnukovsky, 1929-1930), but all these records most
probably resulted from misindefication and demand corroboration, as
well as those for West Altai: the Irtysh basin, Lake Markakol'
(Lederer, 1853; Lavrov, 1930).
HABITAT: Meadow steppes and steppefied meadows, mainly on
south-exposed slopes. Quite rare.
FLIGHT PERIOD: end May/June.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants in Europe (de Jong, 1972): Althea
officinalis, Malva sylvestris, also reported Lamium, Potentilla,
Centaurea. Pupa is placed in a rolled leaf of the foodplant.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-17 mm. The ground colour of the
wing upperside is dark-grey; the hind wing underside ground colour is
ochre-yellowish; the white spots of the transversal row are large and
of even size and shape, roundish, often outlined with dark rims.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ural and West Siberia are inhabited by
subspecies moeschleri Herrich- Schaffer, 1854 described from Sarepta
and differing from the nominotypical one by in general larger size,
enlarged white spots on the upperside and paler hind wing underside
ground colour.
17. Pyrgus maculatus (Bremer et Grey, 1852).
TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.
RANGE: Mountains of South Siberia: Tuva (the settlement Telib, the
Erzin river), E Sayan (the mountain Munku-Sardyk), Pribaikalye (the
Temnik river valley), Zabaikalye, Priamurye, Primorye, Mongolia, West,
Central, and North-East China, Korea, Japan. There were only several
findings of the species in Pribaikalye and westwards.
HABITAT: meadows in river valleys, open woodland on hills, bushy
slopes; the species tends to vegetation types with the participation of
Spiraea. The imagines often visit the flowers of dandelion (Taraxacum).
FLIGHT PERIOD: April/late June in Primorye, middle May/middle July in
the mountains of S Siberia .
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Spiraea ussuriensis and S. media in
Primorye (Kurenzov, 1970), Rubus ideus in Priamurye (Graeser, 1888);
Fragaria viridis is also recorded. Preimaginal phases studied in Japan
(Fukuda et al., 1984). Eggs: laid solitary on the underside of leaves
of the foodplant. Larva: light-green with a dark lengthwise dorsal line
and a similar line along either side, set with dense short hairs; the
first segment and the rirst pair of thoracic legs are reddish-brown,
other thoracic legs are light-green with blak tips; the head is
sphaerical, velvety-dark. The larva spins the leaf with silk and feed
on its edges. Pupa: dark with a glaucous waxy bloom, placed in a
shelter made up of faded leaves spun with silk; it hibernates.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The hind wing underside is
of bright-brown ground colour, with a narrow white band and a very
large oval dark-brown spot proximally of it.
18. Pyrgus malvae (Linnaeus, 1758) (= ruraris auct.; scriptura
auct.).
TYPE LOCALITY: Finland: the Aland Isles.
RANGE: Temperate Eurasia northwards (in W Siberia) to the forest-tundra
zone.
HABITAT: meadows of various types, forest edges, river valleys, in the
mountains rises up to the tree-line. Imagines of the first brood are
often observed on the flowers of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) or
Veronica chamaedrys or on the wet ground; those of the second brood -
on Origanum vulgare. V. Ivonin at the town Karasuk, Novosibirsk Region,
observed males actively chasing each other after 17 hr at leeward sides
of birch groves; after 19 hr the skippers sat to rest on large withered
herbs such as Phlomis and Umbellifera.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late April/June, June/July in the norther forest zone,
in southern range the second brood is possible.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913, and others).
Foodplants (de Jong, 1972): Rosaceae: Fragaria, Potentilla, Rubus,
Agrimonia, Comarum and others; Coronilla (Fabaceae) was also reported.
Eggs: yellowish-green, ribbed, hemisphaeric, laid singly underneath
the foodplant leaves. Young larva: greyish-brown; mature larva: muddy-
green with a lighter ventral side, covered with dense short hairs (some
being much longer) which are denser on the rare part of the body, with
dark-brown lengthwise lines on the back and sides; the head and the
first segment tergite is black: the spiracles are orange-yellow rimmed
by light-yellow. The larva lives inside a rolled leaf. Pupa: brown with
black specks and transversal strokes and with a waxy bloom, the wing
cases are greenish. It hibernates on the ground in a silken shelter
among the leaf fall.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-14 mm. The hind wing underside is
olive-brown with lighter veins and separate white spots.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The nominotypical subspecies inhabits Ural,
Siberia; and the northern Far East; the subspecies kauffmanni Alberti,
1955, differing by small white spots on the hind wing underside, is
known from Middle Priamurye and Primorye. The taxa Pyrgus ruralis
ochotica Kurenzov,1970 and Pyrgus scriptura kusnetzovi Kurenzov, 1970,
described by A.I.Kurentsov (1970), belong to P. malvae.
19. Pyrgus centaureae (Rambur, 1839).
TYPE LOCALITY: Norway: Dalarne.
RANGE: Locally in the forest-tundra and northern forest zones of
Eurasia, in the mountains southwards to Mongolia; North America.
HABITAT: bogged up open pine and larch forests, raised moors, in the
mountains of South Siberia - alpine meadows and dwarf birch tundras at
1700-3000 m altitudes. The imagines often rest on wet ground or moss.
In Altai they were observed to feed on Lagotis integrifolia (Kosterin,
1994).
FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/middle July in the majority of habitats.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Lapland (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982) and
N America (Scott, 1986). Foodplants: some Rosaceae: Rubus chamaemorus,
Potentilla, Fragaria. Eggs: whitish-green hemisphaeric, with lengthwise
ribs. Larva: brown with a dark dorsal line. Hibernation occurs at the
stage of the last instar larva. Pupa: brown with a dark line alomg the
back and spots on the dorsal side of the abomen.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.:14-17 mm. The wing upperside is brown
with relatively large, often fused white spots on the fore wing. The
hind wing underside is brownish with conspicuous light veins and a full
band composed of white spots. In the male genitalia the basal processus
of the valva (antistyle) is wide, to some extent bent laterally, its
apex being obtuse (Table ...). Similar species: P. sibirica, P.
andromedae, P. chapmani.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Subspecies centaureae is known from the forest-
tundra and forest zones of W Siberia. The specimens from the mountains
of S Siberia are similar to it also. The butterflies from the Magadan
Region and Koryak Upland differ by in general darker a wing underside
ground colour and reduced white spots on the hind wing upperside, they
were described as subspecies sibiricus Kurenzov, 1970. This name is a
junior homonym for Pyrgus sibiricus (Reverdin, 1911) and so was
replaced by the name kurentzovi Korshunov, 1995
20. Pyrgus sibiricus (Reverdin, 1911).
TYPE LOCALITY: Altai.
RANGE: West, NE (at Lake Teletskoe), Central, and SE Russian Altai
Mts., Mongolian Altai (V. and A. Lukhtanov, 1994), ?the Sayans.
HABITAT: Usually is found together with P. centaureae on alpine meadows
at stream headwaters and in mountain tundras at 2200-3000 m.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/ middle July.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-17 mm. The wing upperside has
white spots smaller than in the previous species, on the hind wing
upperside they often disappear. On the hind wing underside the white
veins are distinct, and the band composed of white spots is full. In
the male genitalia the basal processus of the valva (antistyle) is
strongly bent laterally, its apex substantially stretched and pointed
(Table ...). Similar species: P. centaureae, P. andromedae, P.
chapmani.
SYSTEMATIC NOTES: For a long time this species was considered as a
synonym of P. centaureae. From the East Sayan (the Munku-Sardyk
mountain) the species Pyrgus chapmani (Warren, 1926) was described, it
was also reported from the Vitim River basin. In the original
description it was compared with P. sibiricus from which it differs in
looking more motley due to more expressed white spots. In male
genitalia the uncus is longer, the cucculus is to a greater extent
stretched out and pointed. Further investigation of this taxon is
necessary which would be based on more substantial materials
21. Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853).
TYPE LOCALITY: Norway: Dalarne.
RANGE: The Pirenees, Alps, mountains of Balcan Peninsula, Carpathians,
North Scandinavia, the Kola Peninsula, Polar Ural. A local species.
HABITAT: in Polar Urals - hingle banks in the mountain tundra belt,
rock on mountain slopes up to 700 m above sea level; the imagines were
also recorded on flood meadows and muddy roads going through mossy
tundras.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in Polar Ural late June/middle July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Malva (Malvaceae) and Alchemilla
glomerulans (Rosaceae) are known from Europe (de Jong, 1972;
Herricksen, 1982)
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm (by in general a smaller
size it differ from P. centaureae). The hind wing underside is of
greyish ground colour, the veins are not conspicuous, the band is
interrupted, it is composed of white spots, the central spot being much
widened. In the male genitalia the basal processus of the harpe is not
expressed (Table ....). Similar species: P.centaureae.
22. Pyrgus cinarae (Rambur, 1839).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Volga basin: the town Sarepta.
RANGE: South Europe, Anterior Asia , South Ural (few findings: the
surroundings of the villages Bululchan, Aknazarovo, Guberli,
Isyangulovo, the station Kuvandyk, the town Novotroitsk). A local and
rare species.
HABITAT: herbaceous variants of mountain steppe on south-exposed slopes.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/middle July.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The hind wing underside
ground colour is greenish-ochre, the white spots are somewhat larger
than in similar species P. alveus, P. serratulae, P. armoricanus . In
the male genitalia the valva apex (cucculus) is not semicircular, the
length of the ucnus approaches the valva length (Table...).
23. Pyrgus alveus (Hubner, 1803).
TYPE LOCALITY: S Germany (by the neotype (Renner, 1991))
RANGE: The temperate Eurasia eastwards to the Prilenskoe Plateau,
Zabaikalye and East Mongolia; in Siberia northwards to the northern
taiga zone.
HABITAT: meadow patches in various forests, birch groves, river
valleys, mountain slopes.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in the southern range - middle May/August in two broods,
the first one being less abundant; in the taiga belt - in a single
brood in June.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: in Europe some Rosaceae were reported (de Jong,
1972; Higgins, Riley, 1980): Potentilla, Rubus, Agrimonia, and also
some plants of other families: Carduus, Helianthemum; Polygala,
Deshampsia. The natural history was studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913;
Forster, Wohlfart, 1955, etc.) Eggs: green, later become yellowish,
hemisphaeric, strongly flattened beneath, with 22 lengthwise and
numerous transversal ribs; they are laid singly on leave underside and
hibernate. Larva: velvety-chockolade-brown with a dark dorlas line,
the first segment bears a black white-rimmed spot; the head is mate-
black with numerous small warts. The larva lives in a rolled leaf and
is also able of hibernation, pupates in a silky shelter among leaves.
Pupa: pale-reddish-brown with dark specks on the dorsal side, covered
with short hairs, its surface is rough.; the wing cases and the end of
the body have a blueish bloom. light-brown with darker dots,
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The hind wing underside is
of greenish-grey ground colour, the basal spots are angular, often
fused. The hind wing upperside has two rows of diffuse spots. In the
male genitalia the valva apex (cucculus) is semicircular, the uncus is
much shorter than the valva (Table ....). Similar species: P.
armoricanus, P. speyeri, P. cinarae, P. serratulae.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: in Siberia is insufficiently studied.
Subspecies iliensis Reverdin, 1912, described from the Ili river
(Kazakhstan) has been reported (de Jong, 1972 and others) for W
Siberia, Altai and Sayans, recently it was synonymized to the
nominotypical subspecies (de Prins, D. van der Poorten, Phegea, 23 (I)
(1 March 1995), p. 1-44).
24. Pyrgus speyeri (Staudinger, 1887) (= alveus auct.).
TYPE LOCALITY: Primorye: the settlement Baranovskii southward of the
town Ussuriisk.
RANGE: E Sayan, S Pribaikalye, Zabaikalye, Priamurye (downstream to
Khabarovsk), Primorye, E Mongolia, NE China.
HABITAT: steppefied meadows and herbaceous steppes.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in two broods: late May/middle June and middle
July/middle August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-16 mm. The wing upperside is dark-
brown, the white spots on the fore wing are small and may be reduced,
the hind wing upperside lacks white spots. The hind wing underside is
yellowish- or greenish-brown with separate white spots, those at the
wing base are angular, the white marginal spots are small or reduced.
Similar species: P. alveus, P. schansiensis, P. serratulae.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: subspecies speyeri is known from Zabaikalye,
Priamurye, and Primorye; subspecies seitzi Mabille, 1909 was described
from the East Sayan, which is characterized by reduced white spots on
both wing sides..
25. Pyrgus schansiensis (Reverdin, 1915).
TYPE LOCALITY: China: Shangshi: Ta-tsing-schan.
RANGE: Known from Central and NE China; reported by R. de Jong (1922)
for the Stanovoy mountain range; recently found by A.N.Strel'tsov in
the Sikhote-Alin mountains and in the Amur region in the interfluve of
the Zeya and Amur, at Shimanovsk, Blagoveshchensk (and 26 km north of
it), Svobodnyi, and also in the Khanka Region of Primorye
(Novokachalinsk and Barabash-Levada).
FLIGHT PERIOD: July
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: Differs from the similar species P. alveus,
P. speyeri, P. serratulae by larger size (f.w.l.: 16-18 mm), large
white spots on the fore wing upperside and strongly reduced ones on the
hind wing. The ground colour of the hind wing underside is yellowish-
or greenish-brown, the row of white spots forms a full band., the white
spots at the wing base are angular.
26. Pyrgus armoricanus (Oberthur, 1910).
TYPE LOCALITY: France, Rennes.
RANGE: Europe, NAfrica, Anterior Asia, South Ural (the vicinity of
the town Beloretsk and the village Aknazarovo), where it is
rather a rare species.
HABITAT: forb meadow
FLIGHT PERIOD: June and July
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer,
1982; other authors). Foodplants: Potentilla reptans and
Fragaria vesca. Eggs: light-green, hemisphaeric with 25
lengthwise ribs. Larva: brown-green or violet-grey, with a black
head, covered with fine hairs; there are three dark streaks
along the back and, on the 1st thoracic segment, two brownish-
black spots on a whitish background. Pupa: brown, specked with
black, with paler wing cases.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l. : 12-14 mm. The ground colour of the
hind wing underside is greenish-grey, with conspicuous yellowish veins;
white spots at the wing base are angular. In male genitalia the valva
apex (cucculus) is semicircular; the uncus is shorter than the valva.
Similar species: P. alveus, P. serratulae, P. cinarae.
27. Pyrgus serratulae (Rambur, 1839).
TYPE LOCALITY: Spain.
RANGE: Europe (except for the North), Anterior Asia, Middle and South
Ural, South Siberia eastwards to Zabaikalye, Mongolia, reported also
for Primorye (the Suchan district).
HABITAT: meadows of various types in the forest and as well steppe
zones, both on flats and in mountains, meadow steppes, in Altai Mts. up
to 1700 m above sea level.
FLIGHT PERIOD: as a rule, in two broods, from May to August, depending
on the locality.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Potentilla, Alchimilla Hibernation
occurs on the larval stage.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-15 mm. As different from similar
species, on the hind wing underside the ground colour is greenish-ochre
or greenish-grey, the basal spots are separated from each other, the
costal one is roundish. The hind wing upperside usually without white
spots. In the male genitalia the valva apex (cucculus) is pointed, not
semicircular, the uncus is shorter than the valva (Table ...). Similar
species: P. alveus, P. armoricanus.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The skippers from Ural and the southern W
Siberia have small white spots on the fore wing upperside, on the hind
wing underside they are usually absent, the hind wing underside is
greenish with clear-cut white spots. By these characters they have been
described as subspecies shukshini Korshunov et Ivonin, 1995, they are
closer to the nominotypical subspecies than to the skippers with
relatively large white spots described from the vicinity of the town
Ural'sk as subspecies uralensis Warren, 1926.
Pyrgus serratuilae shukshini Korshunov et Ivonin, 1996
Original description:
"For the mountains of S Siberia a new subspecies is being descrobed
- Pyrgus serratuilae shukshini Korshunov et Ivonin, sbsp.n.
HOLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l. 14 mm. On the fore wing upperside the white
spots are distinct and on the hind wing they are diffuse, greyish-white
on the brownish-black background. The hind wing underside is ground-
green with white spots with distinct margins; there is a large white
oval spot at the wing base at the fore margin, and a double rectangular
spot at the cell is well expressed. In the nominotypical subspecies the
spot at the anal angle of the hind wing is not roundish and the spot at
the cell is of an irregular shape. In [P.s.] uralensis these spots
present in some specimens, but the butterflies are small, with larger
white spots on the wing upperside. The hind wing underside has more
white scales on the ground colour.
ALLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l. 14 mm. The wing upperside is as in the
male, the hind wing is darker, almost without spots. In other females
greyish-white spots are more noticeable on the hind wing. The pattern
of the underside is as in males. The fringe in both sexes is chequered.
The butterflies from Tuva are similar with shukshini by all the
characters, but they are smaller, f.w.l. being 11-13 mm.
MATERIALS: the holotype: a male - 12.06.1995, Altai, the Chibit
village surroundings, the Chuya River valley, a forb meadow (V.
Ivonin). The allotype: a female, the same locality and date. Paratypes:
4 males 3 females - 12.06.1995, the same locality; a male - 10.06.1902,
the Katun' River, Ustyuba (G. Orlov); a male - 14.08.1959, Altai, the
village Kurai (L. Zheltikova), a male - 17.08.1960, the same locality;
a male - 9.06.1974, Altai, the village Berkh-Kukuya, the Cherginskii
Mt. Range (V. Dubatolov); a male - 13.06.1989, the Novosibirsk Region,
the upland [very low] Sokur, the village Acha (Yu. Korshunov), a female
- 17.06.1982, the same locality; a female - Tuva, Lake Azas (V.
Zinchenko); a male - 23.07.1988, Kyzyl (V. Zinchenko); a male and
female - 16.06 znd 3.07.1988, Tuva, 35 km west of the village
Samagaltai, theShivilig-Khem River left bank (M. Sergeev); a male -
17.07.1990, the same locality (O. Kosterin); a male - 1.07.1963.
The new subspecies is named by the surname of Shukshin, Vasilii
Makarovich (1929-1974), a well known Siberian writer born in Altai."
SUBFAMILIA HESPERIINAE
GENUS LEPTALINA Mabille, 1904.
Type species: Steropes unicolor Bremer et Grey, 1852
A monotypical East Asiatic genus
28. Leptalina unicolor (Bremer et Grey, 1852).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Peking environs.
RANGE: Middle Priamurye, the Minor Hinghan, the Khabarovsk
environs, Primorye, NE and Central China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: Calamagrostis meadows, herb meadows in valleys of
rivers and brooks and on the slopes of coastal terraces. Unlike
the majority of the skippers, these have a peculiar, slow and
jumping, mode of flying.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle May/late June.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: grasses (Poaceae), Phragmites australis and others.
Eggs: white, hemisphaerical, laid singly on the foodplant
leaves. Larva: cream-white with lengthwise reddish streaks; it
lives solitarily within rolled leaves fastened with silk
threads, hibernates. Pupa: elongate, brownish with a darker
ventral stripe; it is attached to a withered leaf of the
foodplant.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-14 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown, the hind wing underside is dull light rusty-brown
with a contrasted silvery stripe.
GENUS HETEROPTERUS Dumeril, 1806.
Type species: Papilio aracinthus Fabricius, 1777.
A monotypical Palearctic genus
29. Heteropterus morpheus (Pallas, 1771).
TYPE LOCALITY: Samara (the Volga Basin).
RANGE: The temperate Eurasia, in Siberia northwards to the southern
taiga.
HABITAT: meadows with Poaceae predominating, forest glades,
edges of birch groves and pine woods; in the mountains of South
Siberia locally on wet meadows within the forest belt, at 1000-
1500 m. As the previous species, these skippers have a peculiar
jumping mode of flying. The males are often observed sitting on
wet ground.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913; and
others). Foodplants: Calamagrostis, Brachipodium, Molinia, and
other Poaceae. Eggs: yellow, hemisphaeric with a shallow dimple
on the top; laid singly on the foodplant. Larva: greenish,
covered by small black warts bearing short dark hairs, there are
a dark stripe with whitish margins along the back, distinct at
the fore end of the body and becoming vague to the rear one,
and a yellow lines on either side; the head is yellow with a
wide brown median stripe and black ocelli; the thoracic legs are
yellowish-brown, the prolegs are green and short; the ventral
side of the body is light, set with dense short white hairs;
the spiracles are pale yellowish-brown. The larva hibernates in
a grass leaf rolled into a tube. Pupa: dull-green with dark
transversal stripes, its head bears a red dart.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm. The wings are
dark-brown, the hind wing underside is yellow with a number of
rows of large white black-margined oval spots.
GENUS POTANTHUS Scudder, 1872.
Type species: Hesperia omaha Edwards, 1863.
The genus embraces 20 species from E. and SE. Asia and
Australia.
30. Potanthus flavum (Murray, 1875).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: SE and E Asia north-east to South Primorye and Japan.
HABITAT: flood meadows and open montane oak forests.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late June, July and August, in one or two broods.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae and Iris. Eggs: white, round, laid singly on
leaf upperside. Larva: greyish-green with light transversal
streaks on segments and the sides of a dark head; hibernates.
Pupa: green with a yellowish abdomen; placed inside a rolled
foodplant leaf.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-16 mm. The wing pattern is
formed by yellow and black bands.
GENUS CARTEROCEPHALUS Lederer, 1852.
Type species: Papilio paniscus Fabricius, 1775.
F.w.l.: 11-15 mm. The wing pattern is spotty; yellow, white,
dark-brown and black colours predominate in the colouration. The
hind wing upperside is dark with clear cut rounded lighter
spots. Females differ from males by an enlarged dark pattern.
Pupae have a pointed projection on the head, they are attached
with a belt of a silk thread; it is placed mostly on withered
leaves of the foodplants and overwinters.
This Holarctic genus includes about 15 species, the majority of
which inhabit C. China.
31. Carterocephalus diekmanni (Graesser, 1888).
TYPE LOCALITY: Vladivostok.
RANGE: Middle Priamurye (Blagoveshchensk), S Primorye, the Great
Hinghan in China. In recent years was reported from Russian
territory only from the Elduga River basin, at the village
Borisovskoe, in the Ussuriiskii Nature Reserve, and on the Gamov
Peninsula.
HABITAT: grassy slopes with rock outcrops within the montane
mixed forest belt.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/early June.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wings are dark-
brown with white spots of different sizes, those on hind wing
underside have a brilliant silver tint.
ETYMOLOGY: Diekman, G.V., a German merchant and butterfly
collectr who lived in Blagoveshchensk.
32. Carterocephalus argyrostigma (Eversmann, 1851).
TYPE LOCALITY: Irkutsk (South Pribaikalye) and Kyakhta (S
Zabaikalye).
RANGE: The mountains of South Siberia, Zeinsko-Bureinskaya
Plain (the city Blagoveshchensk, the settlement Gornyi),
Mongolia and NE. China. A local species.
HABITAT: open steppefied slopes, riparian and forest meadows. In
Altai Mountains the species occurs no lower than at the
altitudes of 1200-1800 m, in Tuva and Zabaikalye is common also
on plains.
FLIGHT PERIOD: May, June, and/or the first half of July,
depending on the altitude and exposition.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-13 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown with yellow spots; the hind wing underside usually
has five brilliant silvery-white spots of complicated shapes.
33. Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771).
TYPE LOCALITY: "Russia": the Akhtushka River, Shigonskii
District, Samara Province.
RANGE: The temperate Eurasia, the Sakhalin, the Kuriles, Japan, the
west of North America, ranging from forest-tundra in the north to
forest-steppe in the south and reaching the tree-line in the
mountains.
HABITAT: humid meadows in various types of woodland and forest-
steppe, valleys, parklands. The imagines often rest on large
leaves of herbs and bushes and visit mostly the flowers of
Geranium, and also of Spiraea, Dianthus, Cerastium, Lamium,
Plantago, etc., in the north - Rubus arcticus, observed on the
wet ground.
FLIGHT PERIOD: in a single brood, early May/middle June in
southern regions , in the forest-tundra the period lasts to the
middle of July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913; Forster,
Wohlfahrt, 1955). Foodplants: Poaceae: Calamagrostis,
Brachipodium, Bromus, Triticum. Eggs: yellowish-white with weak
marking at the base, conical in shape with a shallow dimple on
the top and a fine granulation. Young larva: yellowish-white
with a glossy black head; the first segment is crescent-shaped,
at first black, later becomes green. Mature larva: light-green
or pale-ochre-coloured, with darker light-rimmed lengthwise and
transversal lines, covered with fine velvety hairs; the segment
joints are yellowish; the ventral part of the body and the
prolegs are yellowish ; the head is blueish with a dark median
line. The larva lives in a rolled leaf and often change this
shelter, after hibernation pupates in a shelter made up of grass
leaves spun with silk. Pupa: greyish-yellow with dark or reddish
lengthwise streaks on the dorsal side of the body; the head is
pointed in a beak-like manner.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.:12-15 mm. The wing underside is
dark-brown with separate yellow spots, but on the underside the
yellow colour predominates, the hind wing underside is muddy-
yellow or brownish with whitish roundish spots. Similar species:
C. silvicola.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: the skippers from fores-steppen regions
of Ural are close to ssp. papaemon. The subspecies albiguttata
Christoph, 1893 (= taigana Kurenzov, 1970; = australis Kurenzov,
1941) ranges widely in Ural, Siberia, and the Far East. It was
described by the materials from Southern and Middle Ural, the
Vilyui River and the East Sayan and is characterized by a
reduction of ochre-coloured spots on the wing upperside and
white colour of the spots on the wing underside. The Sakhalin
is inhabited by ssp. murasei Matsumura, 1925, in which, alike
the nominotypical subspecies, the underside spots are yellow.
34. Carterocephalus silvicolus (Meigen, 1829)
(= sylvius Knoch, 1781 - homonym).
TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.
RANGE: Like C.palaemon, this species ranges in the temperate
Eurasia, including the islands of Sakhalin, Kuriles, and Japan.
HABITAT: similar to that of the previous species: humid meadows,
forest edges and open stands in forests, parklands, bush
thickets. The imagines often visit the flowers of Geranium,
Spiraea, Veronica, Rubus arcticus, etc., often form
congregations on the wet ground.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913).
Foodplants: Poaceae: Bromus, Milium, Phalaris, Poa spp. Eggs:
yellow, glossy, hemisphaeric with a shallow dimple on the top,
ribbed at the base, laid singly on the foodplant. The larvae
hatch about 9 days after oviposition. Young larva: milky white
with black warts bearing black hairs; the head is brownish-
black. Mature larva: yellowish or greenish with a light red-
brown dorsal stripe, two or three lines of the same colour on
either side; the head and the thoracic legs are brown; the
spiracles are black. In autumn, before the last moult, the larva
becomes muddy-yellow. The larva lives solitarily and hibernates.
Pupa: yellowish-brown or yellowish-green with a projection on
the head; the abdomen is ochre-coloured with brown or reddish
lengthwise streaks; by colouration it resembles a withered leaf.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The fore wing
upperside is yellow with isolated dark-brown spots; the hind
wing underside is muddy-yellow, due to a heavy dark suffusion, and
has roundish yellow spots. Similar species: C. palaemon.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ssp. silvicola ranges on the continent.
The subspecies isshikii Matsumura , 1925 (=shikotana Matsumura,
1926) was reported for the Sakhalin and Kuriles..
GENUS THYMELICUS Hubner, 1819.
Type species: Papilio actaeon Rottemburg, 1775.
F.w.l.: 12-15 mm, in both sexes the wings are ochre-fulvous in
general, sometimes with an outer border. The antennal club has
no hook. The pupae have a pointed projection on the head; they
are fastened by a silken belt.
An Eurasian genus with 10 species.
35. Thymelicus sylvaticus (Bremer, 1861).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Ussuri River (Primorye).
RANGE: Middle Priamurye (between the Bureya and Goryun (Gorin)
Rivers), Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: meadow areas within in broad-leaved,
montane mixed or, less frequently, coniferous forests, other
open places, settlements..
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/late August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae (Bromus, Calamagrostis, Agropyron,
Brachypodium) and Cyperaceae (Carex). Eggs: white with a
blueish tint, ellyptical; laid in small groups into the folds in
old leaves. Larva: greenish-yellow with green head and a wide
back line of the same colour. Pupa: green with lighter
lengthwise streaks and a sharp dart behind the head.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
is ochre-fulvous with dark veins and a broad dark-brown marginal
suffusion on both wings. In males the sex-brand is not
expressed. Similar species: Thymelicus leoninus.
36. Thymelicus leoninus (Butler, 1878).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: S Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: forest meadows. A very rare species.
FLIGHT PERIOD: July/middle August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Poaceae (Bromus, Brachypodium, Agropyron etc.).
Eggs: white with a blueish tint, ellyptical; laid by several in
a row on faded leaves or petioles. Larva: green with wide dove-
coloured lengthwise streaks.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
is of fulvous-ochre colour with dark veins and a dark border,
which is wider on the hind wing. Similar species: T. sylvaticus.
37. Thymelicus lineola (Ochsencheimer, 1808).
TYPE LOCALITY: Germany.
RANGE: N Africa, the non-tropical Eurasia northwards (in Asia)
to the middle taiga zone, the Sakhalin, North America.
HABITAT: various meadows, steppes and replacing them pastures
and fallow lands, larch parklands. The skippers often visit
flowers of Origanum vulgare, Filipendula, Veronica, Berteroa
incana, Dianthis versicolor, Tanacetum vulgare, Achillea
millefolium, Cichorium intybus, Cirsium setosum, Trifolium
pratense, etc. sit on wet ground and wet pebble banks.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late May/middle August in two broods in the
south, late June/July in a single brood in the taiga zone and
mountains.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1923;
Wohlfarht, 1955, etc.) Foodplants: Poaceae (Agropyron, Agrostis,
Brachypodium, Bromus, Elytrigia, Festuca, Phlaeum, Arrheantemum
elatus, Dactylis glomerata and others); in Zabaikalye the larvae
were recorded also on Rosaceae: the wild apple-tree (Malus
baccata) and the Siberian Wild Apricot (Armeniaca sibirica), in
Europe - on Prunus spinosa. Eggs: ellyptical, flattened, with a
dimple on the top, with a grainy sculpture, at first yellow with
a nacreous gloss, four weeks later become blue; usually laid in
batches of 30-40 at the foodplant leaf bases. The larva usually
is hided in a shelter made of silk-fastened leaves. Young larva:
ligh yellow with a black head and a spot on the first segment.
Mature larva: blueish-green or greenish-yellow with a dark-green
dorsal stripe and yellowish lengthwise lines along the sides;
9th and 10th segments bear a white spot on either side; the head
is dark greenish-grey with three brown strokes. Pupa: greenish
with lengthwise light-yellow streaks, the head processus is
green, the proboscis case is brown; it is placed in a shelter
made up of silk-fastened grass.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 12-14 mm.
The wing upperside is ochre-fulvous with marginal darkening. The
male fore wing has a straight androconial stroke. The antennal
club is black underside. Similar species: T. flavus.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Ural and Siberia are inhabited by the
nominotypical subspecies.
38. Thymelicus flavus (Brunnich, 1763)
(= sylvestris Poda, 1761; = thaumas Hufnagel, 1761).
TYPE LOCALITY: Denmark.
RANGE: Europe, N Africa, Anterior Asia, Middle and South Ural.
HABITAT: Meadows in montane forests.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June and the first half of July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Phleum, Festuca, Brachypodium,
Deshampsia and other Poaceae. Eggs: elongate, at first white,
later beckome yellowish. Young larvae hibernate. Mature larva:
greenish with a double dark white-rimmed streak along the back and
three lengthwise yellowish lines on either side; the head is
dark-green. It lives and pupates in a shelter consisting in a
grass leaf with fastened edges. Pupa: yellowish-green with a
reddish dart on the head, in a frail silk cocoon among grass
leaves.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside is
ochre-fulvous with a marginal darkening. The male fore wing has a
bent androconial stroke. The antennal club is light underside.
Similar species: T. lineola.
GENUS OCHLODES Scudder, 1872.
Type species: Hesperia nemorum Boisduval, 1852.
F.w.l.: 13-18 mm. In males the wings are of ochre tones with
an androconial stroke behind the cell, in females they are brown
with separate ochre spot; the hind wing underside without white
spots. The antennal club is pointed and hooked.
A Holarctic genus with 16 species.
39. Ochlodes venata (Bremer et Grey, 1852).
TYPE LOCALITY: China: Peking.
RANGE: Middle Priamurye, Primorye, Sakhalin, NE. China, Korea.
HABITAT: Wide forest clearings, meadow patches in open oak
forests, grassy slopes, locally - up to the tree line.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/late August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm.
In males the wing upperside is of bright golden-ochre colour
with a hardly noticeable darkening at the outer margin. Similar
species: O. faunus.
SYSTEMATIC NOTE: The taxon O. venata for a long time
was considered to extend to West Europe, now it is found out
that this name is applicable only to the light butterflies of
the continental E Asia.
40. Ochlodes faunus (Turati, 1905)
(= venata auct.; = sylvanus Esper, 1779).
TYPE LOCALITY: Italy
RANGE: Europe, the temperate Asia, in SIberia north to the
southern limit of the middle taiga zone, the Sakhalin, the
southern Kurile Isles, Japan.
HABITAT: Meadows of various types, forest edges, vasting lands.
The imagines visit the flowers of Trifolium, Veronica, Geranium,
Dracocephalum, Polygonum, other plants, often rest on the leaves
of large herbs (Korshunov, 1969).
FLIGHT PERIOD: June and the first half of July. In South Ural
and Zabaikalye [Transbaikalia] the second brood was recorded in
August, those butterflies are a bit larger and lighter. In
Primorye this species starts flying about a month earlier than
O. venata, in late June, and penetrates in more humid habitats.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Eckstein, 1913, Forster,
Wohlfahrt, 1955, etc.), the Ural (Chislov, 1977), in Siberia
(original data), and, for ssp. herculea Butler, 1881, in Japan
(Fukuda et al., 1982). The European data are as follows:
Foodplants: Poaceae: Poa, Agropyron, Elytrigia, Triticum, Avena,
Brachipodium, Calamagrostis, Festuca, Dactylis, Sasa and others,
and also Carex. Eggs: hemisphaeric, with fine cell sculpture,
yellowish-white, later become pale orange. Larva: green with two
dark-green dorsal lines, a yellowish (above) and a blueish
(beneath) lengthwise lateral stripes, and numerous black dots;
the head is brownish. It lives in rolled leaves, hibernates and
pupates in spring after further feeding in a cylindical tuft of
silk-spun leaves. Pupa is slender, greenish or greyish, with
darker wing cases; its stage lasts for about three weeks. In the
Middle Ural a green larva with light lengthwise stripes and
relatively large sphaeric head was found in late June on
Chamaecystis ruthenicus (Fabaceae), after 5 days it pupated on a
foodplant branch in a frail net-like cocoon. The pupa was green
with a long and protruding proboscis case. The imago hatched
after 13 days. Japanese data are as follows: Foodplants:
Calamagrostis, Sasa, and other Poaceae, and also Carex
desicaria. The eggs are hemisphaeric, white, laid singly on the
foodplant leaves. The larva is relatively thick, green; the head
is ochre-coloured with a brown streak. It lives in a tuft of
silk-spun leaf or 2-3 leaves; pupates in this tuft. The pupa is
light-green, with a vaxy bloom.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-18 mm. In male the wing
underside is ochre-fulvous with an intensive wide darkening at
the outer edge, as different from the similar species O.
venatus; the hind wing underside in both sexes is greenish-
ochre, usually with distinct yellowish spots which are larger
and more diffuse than in H. florinda.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: While the subspecies faunus Turati, 1905
ranges in West and Central Europe, Ural and the most part
of Siberia is inhabited by the subspecies esperi Verity, 1934
described from "Rossia boreali" and differing by a more
developed dark pattern on the wing upperside and yellowish-green
hind wing underside ground colour, with more distinct yellow
spots. The subspecies parvus Kurenzov, 1970, described from
Zabaikalye, is close to it. The southern [Russian] Far East is
inhabited by ssp. amurensis Mabille, 1909, being easily
distinguished by a very distinct dark-brown pattern of the wing
upperside and an ochre-brown ground colour of the hind wing
underside with contrasted yellowish spots. The subspecies
herculea Butler, 1981 inhabits the Sakhalin and the Kuriles,
which is described from Japan and approaches esperi by general
colouration.
41. Ochlodes ochracea (Bremer, 1861).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Ussuri River (Primorye).
RANGE: Middle Priamurye (from the Minor Hinghan Mts. to the
Gorin River), Primorye, NE China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: meadows, forest edges and glades in montane mixed
and broad-leaved forests, mostly non-disturbed.
FLIGHT PERIOD: late June/early August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Cyperaceae (Carex) and Poaceae (Calamagrostis,
Brachypodium, etc.). Egs: white, hemisphaeric, laid singly on
the foodplant leaves. Larva: greyish-green with a dark back and
yellowish lateral streaks. Pupa: green, in a silken shelter
among plant residues.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 13-15 mm. The wing upperside
in males is of golden-ochre colour with dark-brown veins and
outer border and a black androconial stroke, in females - dark
with yellow spots. The wing underside in both sexes is ochre-
yellow with dark veins.
42. Ochlodes subhyalina (Bremer et Grey, 1852).
TYPE LOCALITY: China, the Peking vicinity.
RANGE: Priamurye (the environs of Khabarovsk and Komsomol'sk-na-
Amure), S Primorye, NE and Central China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: south-exosed slopesmeadows, wide forest
clesrings in montane mixed woods.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/late August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wing upperside
in general is dark-brown with large yellow spots; the hind wing
underside is ochre-green with yellowish spots.
GENUS HESPERIA Fabricius, 1793.
Type species: Papilio comma Linnaeus, 1758.
A Holarctic genus with 18 species, the majority of which range
in USA.
43. Hesperia comma (Linnaeus, 1758).
TYPE LOCALITY: Sweden.
RANGE: The non-tropical Eurasia north to the polar regions, the
Sakhalin.
HABITAT: In the southern part of Ural and West Siberia this
species is quite common in steppes and meadows, but to the north
and east becomes rare and local, occurring on forest and alpine
meadows, in larch parklands and mountain tundras. The feeding of
imagines was observed in West SIberia on Veronica, Trifolium,
Prunella, in Altai highlands - on Solidago dahurica (2000 m
altitude) and Crepis tectorum (1000 m)
FLIGHT PERIOD: usually middle July/middle August, but in
Zabaikalye [Transbaikalia] it is shifted to June. Some specimens
were collected in June also in East and Central Yakutia and the
Polar Ural (P. Gorbunov's collections).
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Europe (Henriksen, Kreutzer, 1982
and others). Foodplants: many Poaceae species were reported:
Festuca, Poa, Bromus, Deshampsia, Lolium, Stipa, Triticum and
other Poaceae; and also Carex and some legumes: Lotus, Coronilla
varia. Eggs: hemisphaeric, very fine sculptured, ivory-coloured
or orange-yellow. Larva: olive-green, ash-grey or greenish-
violet, with a rust-brown lengthwise back line and a double dark
line of the same colour on either side; the 9th and 10th
segments have a white spot on either side each; the ventral side
is lighter; the thoracic legs, the spiracles, and a cordate head
are black. The larva lives in the tuft of the foodplant leaves,
close to the ground, pupates either in the same tuft or on the
ground in a loose silk shelter. Pupa: varies from the sand-
coloured to brownish with blueish wing cases and spiracles and
the dorsal side whitish, set with short hairs, its dorsal side
is in a whitish bloom.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 14-17 mm.
The wing upperside is ochre-brown with yellow marks and a dark-
brown border; the hind wing underside is greenish-ochre or
muddy-green with contrasted angular spots. Similar species: H.
florinda.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The butterflies from the Polar and
Subpolar Ural are darkly coloured and approach to the subspecies
catena Staudinger, 1861, described from Laplandia. The
butterflies from the Sakhalin were designated as sachalinensis
Matsumura, 1933. Here we are describing three new subspecies from
Siberia. They differ from the nominotypical one by the ground
colour, the spots, the presence of their dark rims; in the male
genitalia there are differences in the shape of teeth on the
valva. In the lateral view the apical processus of the valva
bears small teeth in ssp. sushkini and is lower than the basal
spine, in ssp. planula the processus lacks teeth and is on the
same level as the basal spine, in ssp. lena the processus is
lower than the spine and is covered with uneven knobs.
Hesperia comma lena Korshunov et P.Gorbunov, 1995.
Original description:
"HOLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 16 mm. The wing upperside is
relatively dark, brown with fulvous spots; the underside of the
hind wing and of the fore wing apex are of a muddy-green ground
colour, the inner margin of the hind wing underside being
yellowish; the white spots are contrasted but their dark rims are
not distinct as being hidden by muddy-green scales.
ALLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 15 mm. On the wing upperside the
dark-fulvous colour is to a great extent displaced by dark-brown
scales. The androconial stroke contains a light stria inside. The
hind wing underside is muddy-green, with a fulvous suffusion at
the anal angle and with roundish and angular white spots, their
dark rims being masked by the scales of the ground colour.
MATERIALS: the holotype: a female, the Suntar-Khayata mountain
range, 356th km of road Khandyga-Magadan, a damp meadow on the
Suntar river bank, 19th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); the
allotype: a male, the Suntar-Khayata mountain range, 232-nd km
of road Khandyga-Magadan, a mountain Baranya, 1600 m altitude,
7th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); paratypes: male and female -
C. Yakutia, settlement Khaptagay, the Tamma river valley, 20th
July 1973 (Yu.N.Ammosov leg.); 10 males 8 females - Suntar-
Khayata mountain range, 232-nd km of road Khandyga-Magadan,
16th-27nd June and 1si-22th July 1985 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); 2
females, Yakutsk, Botanical Garden, (V.V.Dubatolov leg.), a male
- NW. Chukotka, 100 km south of settlement Pevek, Ust'-Chaun,
24th July 1986 (V.K.Zinchenko leg.)."
Hesperia comma planula Korshunov, 1995.
Original description:
"HOLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 15 mm. The fore wing apex is more
pointed than in the nominotypical subspecies; the fore wing
upperside is light-fulvous with less amount of dark scales; the
androconial stroke contains a conspicuous light streak; the hind
wing underside is yellowish-green (while in Swedish specimens it
is olive-green) with angular white spots.
ALLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 16 mm. On the fore wing upperside
the yellow scales cover not all the white spots, this especially
concerns the spots at the outer margin. The hind wing underside
is yellowish-green with large white spots in dark rims.
MATERIALS: the holotype: a male, Novosibirsk region,
settlement Karasuk, Lake Krotovaya Lyaga, a birch grove edge,
29th July 1981 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); the allotype: a female,
Novosibirsk region, 10 km NNW of town Zdvinsk, a steppefied
meadow at a road, 14th August 1990 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.);
paratypes: a female, environs of Barnaul,29th July 1902
(E.G.Rodd, leg.); 1 male 2 females - Novosibirsk region,
village Novyy Sharap, birch kolki 8th, 19th, and 28th August
1957; a female - the same locality, 2nd August 1959; Novosibirsk
region, railway station Izdrevaya, 1st July 1959; a male -
Tyumen' region, village Oktyabr'skoe, the Ob' bank, 9th July
1969 (Yu.P.Korshunov leg.); a male - surroundings of
Chelyabinsk, 30th July 1979 (A.E.Kulyginskiy leg.); a female -
Chelyabinsk region: town Troitsk surroundings, 14th August 1982
(M.F.Manapov leg.); 1 male 5 females - Novosibirsk region,
settlement Karasuk, Lake Krotovaya Lyaga, 23th July 1981; a male
- the same locality, 10th August 1990; a female - the same
locality, 11th August 1990 (V.V.Dubatolov leg.); a male -
Novosibirsk region, 10 km NNW of town Zdvinsk, 19th August 1990
(V.V.Dubatolov leg.)."
Hesperia comma sushkini Korshunov, 1995.
Original description:
"HOLOTYPE: a female. F.w.l.: 18 mm. All the light-yellow
spots are distinct on a dark ground colour of the wing
upperside; the hind wing upperside is grey-green with a light-
grey inner border; the scales at the anal angle are lighter than
others and so form a conspicuous spot; the white spots are
distinct, of intermediate size
ALLOTYPE: a male. F.w.l.: 16 mm. The wing upperside is
fulvous, the outer area of the fore wing and the margins of the
hind wing are dark; the androconial stroke contains a light
stria; the white spots of the hind wing underside are large,
distinct, with dark rims.
MATERIALS: the holotype: a female, Altai, the Chulyshman river
valley, 19th August 1980 (M.Ivonina leg.); the allotype: a male,
Altai, Katunskiy mountain range, the Nizhniy Kuragan river bank
terrace at the mouth, a steppefied meadow, 24th July 1986
(O.E.Kosterin leg.); paratypes: a female - Nizhnyaya Ustyuba,
25th July 1902 (G.Orlov leg.); 3 males - N. Pribaikalye, the
Malaya Kosa river, a larch wood edge (Velizhanin leg.); 1 male 1
female - Novosibirsk region, Bugotakskie Sopki [Bugotak Hills]
at settlement Semenovskiy, 5th August 1982 (V.V.Ivonin leg.); a
male - Krasnoyarskiy Kray, the Sayano-Shushenskiy reserve, the
Uzun-Suk river, 11-16th August 1988 (V.A.Vagin leg.); a male -
West Altai, Glubokaya, 2nd September 1990 (V.K.Zinchenko leg.).
The subspecies is named after the surname of Petr Petrovich
Sushkin (1868-1928), a known ornitologist and lepidopterologist,
who collected Lepidoptera in the mountains of South Siberia
togerther with S.S. Chetverikov."
Note: the spelling "shushkini" is clearly an error, since it
was clearly stated that the taxon is named after the surname
Sushkin.
44. Hesperia florinda Butler, 1878
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: S. Pribaikalye (the Tunkin District), S. Zabaikalye,
forest-steppe regions of Middle Priamurye, S Primorye, E
Mongolia, NE China, Korea, Japan, reported for the Sakhalin
(Evans, 1949).
HABITAT: steppes and steppefied meadows.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle July/middle August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Carex. Eggs: large, white, hemisphaeric, laid
singly on faded leaves of the foodplinds or on the pebble near.
Larva: darker than that of P. comma, almost brown with a similar
pattern; it pupates in a frail silk shelter among grass leaves.
Pupa: brownish, with paler and speckled abdomen.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 15-17 mm. The hind wing
underside is ochre-coloured with small yellowish spots.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: In Russia the subspecies rozhkovi
Kurenzov, 1970 ranges, described from the steppes of
Zabaikalye. The butterflies from Primorye differ by to some
extent darker females.
GENUS AEROMACHUS Niceville, 1890.
Type species: Thanaos stigmata Moore, 1878.
The genus includes 11 species from E. and SE. Asia.
45. Aeromachus inachus (Menetries, 1859).
TYPE LOCALITY: the Amur River.
RANGE: Middle Priamurye (from Blagoveshchensk to the Ussuri
River), Primorye, Central and East China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: open montane oak forests, grassy slopes with rocks,
meadow patches.
FLIGHT PERIOD: middle June/late August.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplants: Spodiopogon sibiricus (Poaceae). Eggs: white,
hemisphaeric, laid singly underside the foodplant leaves. Larva:
greyish-green with three lengthwise dove-coloured stripes on the
back; it lives solitarily in a web-fastened leaf, hibernates.
Pupa: green with three dove-coloured stripes on the ventral
side, it is attached to the upper side of a foodplant leave.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 11-13 mm. The wings are dark-
brown, the fore wing upperside and underside of both wings with
a row of small yellowish dots.
GENUS THORESSA Swinhoe, 1913.
Type species: Pamphila masoni Moore, 1819.
The genus includes about 20 species from E and SE Asia.
46. Thoressa varia (Murray, 1876).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: the Sakhalin, the S Kuriles, NE China, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT: meadows, mostly coastal, with Sasa kurilensis.
FLIGHT PERIOD: June and July.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: studied in Japan (Fukuda et al., 1984).
Foodplant: Sasa. Eggs: white, round; laid on leaves and stems of
the foodplant. Larva: blue-green with a dark head; hibernates,
pupates on the ground inside rolled leaves of the foodplant.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-18 mm. The wing upperside
is dark-brown; small light spots present only on fore wings. The
wing underside is brown with a yellowish suffusion and
contrasting dark veins.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: ssp. varia inhabits the Sakhalin and
S Kuriles, from the Kunashir Island the species melancholica
Bryk, 1942, has been described by a single female to be shown
later to be only an aberration of T. varia.
GENUS PARNARA Moore, 1881.
Type species: Eudamus guttatus Bremer et Grey, 1852.
The genus includes five species from Africa, S and SE Asia,
and Australia.
47. Parnara guttata (Bremer et Grey, 1852).
TYPE LOCALITY: NE China.
RANGE: E and SE Asia north to Primorye. A migrant species.
HABITAT AND FLIGHT PERIOD: in Primorye the imagines were
recorded on meadows in valley broad-leaved forests, rice fields
in July, August, and early September.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: some Poaceae: Oriza was reported
from Primorye (Kurenzov, 1970), Zea mays and Sasa - from Japan
(Fukuda et al, 1984). Eggs: brown, hemisphaeric; laid on the
foodplant leave upperside. Larva: greenish-brown with a dark
lengthwise stripe on the back; hibernates, pupates in a silk
shelter among the leaves.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 16-19 mm. The wings are dark-
brown. The four transparent "windows" on the hind wing are
arranged in an even decreasing row oriented to the wing apex;
there is a small white spot in the cell. Similar species:
Polytremis zina, P. pellucida, Pelopides jansonis.
GENUS POLYTREMIS Mabille, 1904.
Type species: Gegenes contigua Mabille, 1877.
The genus includes 10 species from E and SE Asia.
48. Polytremis pellucida (Murray, 1875).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: The Sakhalin, the S. Kuriles, Korea, Japan.
HABITAT, FLIGHT PERIOD: The imagines were recorded from late
July until autumn, mostly at wood edges and open tree stands
with thickets of Sasa kurilensis, on floodland and coastal
meadows.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae (Phragmites, Sasa etc.).
Eggs: roundish, reddish, laid singly on the foodplant leaves.
Larva: greenish-glaucous with a dark head. Pupa: the colouration
resembles withered leaves, among which it is usually placed.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-23 mm. On fore wing the
transparent "windows" at the discoidal vein are placed one beneath
the other. In the male genitalia the tegumen is long, flattened,
with two pairs of small teeth at the apex. Similar species:
Polytremis zina, Parnara guttata, Pelopidas jansonis.
49. Polytremis zina Evans, 1932.
TYPE LOCALITY: China: Sichuan: Omeishan.
RANGE: Middle Priamurye (not upstream of the Malyi Khingan
Mountain Range), Primorye, North-East, Central and South
China, Korea, reported for the Sakhalin.
HABITAT: meadow patches in river valleys and on mountain
slopes. FLIGHT PERIOD: July and August.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-22 mm. The lower of the two
transparent "windows" in the fore wing cell is shifted to the
wing base. In the male genitalia the tegumen is widened and bears
two ventro-lateral lobe-like processes at the apex. Similar
species: Polytremis pellucida, Parnara guttata, Pelopidas
jansonis.
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: The subspecies zinoides Evans, 1937, had
been described from the Amur River and later was reduced to the
nominotypical one (Evans, 1949).
GENUS PELOPIDAS Walker, 1870.
Type species: Pelopidas midea Walker, 1870.
The genus includes about 20 species from Africa, S and SE
Asia.
Pelopidas jansonis (Butler, 1878).
TYPE LOCALITY: Japan.
RANGE: NE China, Korea, Japan (except for Hokkaido). The species
was once reported, on the basis of the collection of the British
Museum of Natural History, for "the Amur".
FLIGHT PERIOD: in Japan in April/June and July/September in two
broods. April/June and July/September.
PREIMAGINAL PHASES: Foodplants: Poaceae (Calamagrostis,
Phragmites etc.). Eggs: white, hemisphaeric, laid on the
foodplant leaves. Larva: muddy-green, the head colour varies
from ochre to black; it rolls leaves making a tube-like shelter
with both ends open, feeds at night. Pupa: light-green or ochre-
coloured; found among old leaves.
PECULIAR TRAITS OF IMAGO: F.w.l.: 19-21 mm. On the hind wing the
cell has rather a large white spot, the transparent "windows"
form relatively an even row directed to the anal angle, the
second and third "windows" are oblong and considerably greater
than the others.
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