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LEPIDOPTERA

Muschampia staudingeri variabilis Devyatkin, 1992
Muschampia staudingeri (Speyer, 1879)

• TYPE LOCALITY. "Saisan Noor" [Zaisan, Saur Mts., SE. Kazakhstan].

• SYNONYMS: albata Reverdin, 1916.

• RANGE. Central Asia from NE. Iran to the Pamirs, the S. Altai and W. China.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Kopet-Dagh, Badkhyz, Ghissar, Darvaz, the W. Pamirs, W. and central Tian-Shan (Karatau, Talassky Alatau, Pass Keghen), Turkestan (Hi River), Dzhungarsky Alatau (Katutau Mts.), Saur Mts., the S. Altai (?). Both individual and geographical variations are great. Along with the nominate form, the following subspecies have been described from the territories concerned: ssp. variabilis Devyatkin, 1992 from the Kopet-Dagh; ssp. pseudoproteus Devyatkin, 1992 from Ghissar; and ssp. variegata Devyatkin, 1992 from the W. Pamirs.

• TAXONOMIC NOTES. A full specific rank of some of the subspecies cannot be excluded. In addition, new forms are likely to be found.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Dry valleys and stony slopes in mountainous areas at 400-4,000 m a.s.l. Flight period: May-July in a single generation depending on the locality. Host plants: Phlomis spp. (Ph. cancellata in Turkmenistan); larval instars living in shelters made of woven leaves.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. M proto: UPS dusted with yellowish scales. M. prometheus: UNH light red without sub-marginal spots. M. proteus: UPS submarginal spots faint; genitalia different (Fig.).

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

fig 3

Fig. Male genitalia of the staudingen- (right clasp and aedeagus) and the /w^w-groups (right clasp, uncus and gnatos): 1 - Muschampia staudingeri''(W. Kopet-Dagh); 2 - M. prometheus (Gissarsky Mts.); 3 - M. proteus (Katran-Too Mts., Alai); 4 - M. lutulenta ("Samarkand"); 5 - M. poggei (Armenia)