Mellicta alatauica (Staudinger, 1881) (= Melitaea alatauica).

A narrow endemic species confined to the Dzhungarian Alatau Mountain chain, being a rather isolated NE extreme of the Tien Shan Mts. and bearing a flora and fauna in many respects transitory between the Siberian and Central Asian ones. This species is most allied to M. aurelia and exhibits sexual dimorphism rather a great for the genus.

Range: The Dzhungarian Alatau Mts.; an endemic.

ssp.: alatauica (Staudinger, 1881); monotypical.

a male, wings open.

A meadow in the middle valley of the Kora River, 23 km NE of the Tekeli City (1700 m above sea level), the North Dzhungarskiy Alatau mountain chain (NE part of Tien Shan), Taldy-Kurgan Province, SE Kazakhstan. 13th June 1993. Oleg Kosterin.

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