LEPIDOPTERA

• S A T Y R I D A E Boisduval, 1833

  • PSEUDOCHAZARA de Lesse, 1951

    
    

    • Pseudochazara turkestana (Grum-Grshimailo, 1893)

Pseudochazara turkestana (Grum-Grshimailo, 1893)

· TYPE LOCALITY. "...in montibus Turkestaniae et in Tian-schan orientali" [Tian-Shan].

· RANGE. From Afghanistan through the mountains of Middle Asia to the SW. Altai.

· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The nominate subspecies flies in Tian-Shan. Other subspecies are as follows: ssp. tarbagata (Staudinger, 1901) - Dzhungarsky Alatau, Saur and Tarbagatai, the SW. Altai; ssp. sagina (Ruhl, [1894]) - Ghissar, S. Ghissar, Darvaz, the W. Pamirs; ssp. esquilinus (Fruhstorfer, 1911) - Alai.

· TAXONOMIC NOTES. A polymorphous species, with sagina perhaps deserving full specific rank.

· HABITAT AND BIOLOGY. Dry stony habitats at 1,600-3,800 m a.s.l. Flight period: June-August.

· SIMILAR SPECIES. P. panjshira: fringes white or whitish-brown; UPS postdiscal band in both sexes uniform ochreous-yellow; androconial scales different in shape. P. pakistana: UPS postdiscal band contrasting and bichromous, from bright red to straw-yellow; UPF with a single apical eye-spot, as a rule. P. hippolyte: UPF eye-spots always with white pupils; UNH veins white.

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