LEPIDOPTERA

• H E S P E R I I D A E Latreille, 1809

  • CARTEROCEPHALUS Lederer, 1852

    
    

    • Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771)

Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771)

• TYPE LOCALITY. Unknown, probably the Volga region.

• SYNONYMS: paniscus Fabricius, 1775; brontes Dennis et Schiffermuller, 1776.

• RANGE. From W. Europe (except for the Mediterranean area) across temperate Asia to Japan; N. America.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The European part, the Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East from the Urals to Kamchatka, from the Altai to the Sakhalin and Kuril Islands and the Ussuri region. Variable in spotting pattern: marginal spots can be absent. In the Siberian part of the range, the ssp. albiguttata Christoph, 1893 is known to occur.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Forest edges and clearings, grassy meadows, river valleys. Flight period: May-July in a single generation. Host plants in Europe (Eckstein, 1913; Forster, Wohlfahrt, 1955; etc.): various grasses (Bromus, Cynosurus cristatus, Brachypodium, Calamagrostis). Larva hibernating in a shelter made of tied leaves.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. C. silvicola: FW yellow with black spots, UNH spots yellow and less strongly contrasting.

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