Marigold arethusa

Arethusa ( Greek mythology ) - Nereid, turned by the goddess Artemis into a source.

The length of the front wing is 19-25 mm. Antennae are capitate. Two veins are swollen at the root of the fore wing. The upper side of the wings is brownish-brown, with a buffy-orange postdiscal ligation, broken into separate oval spots - one in each cell. The front wing is on the upper side with an ocular spot at the apex and (sometimes) in the cell Cu1-Cu2. The hind wing on the upper side has a small ocular spot in the cell Cu1-Cu2. The front wing on the underside is buffy-orange, with ocular spots corresponding to the upper side, and also with a wide rim of brown color on the outer edge. The costal margin of the wing and the central cell are mottled, with a pattern formed by thin mottles on an ocher-orange background. The rear wing on the underside is light brown, with a motley pattern. A thin postdiscal line passes through the entire wing, to which a light band adjoins. In the cell Cu1-Cu2 there is an ocular spot; The outer edge of the front wing is convex, and the rear wing is serrated. The fringe of the wings is motley. Sexual dimorphism is expressed rather weakly - the female has a slightly brighter main background of the wings, and the ocher-yellow spots that form the postdiscal ligation are larger than in the male ^[2] .

•  

  Male

Morocco, Southern and, partially, Central and Eastern Europe from Spain to the Southern Urals, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Asia Minor, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Western China, south of Western Siberia east to Southern Altai ^{[2] [1]} .

Earlier, the species was also noted in Central Ukraine (Cherkasy and Poltava regions), but now it seems to have died out there ^[1] .

In the European part of Russia it is found quite locally. The species is common in the Southern Urals, where in the Orenburg region annually is massive ^[1] .

Subspecies

• A. a. aksouali Wyatt, 1952.
• A. a. albinothellensis Varin, 1938.
• A. a. albovenata Agenjo, 1970.
• A. a. allobrogicus Varin, 1953.
• A. a. calciphila Varin, 1953.
• A. a. heptapotamica (Stauder, 1924).

Systematic Notes

The Ukrainian entomologist Yu.P. Nekrutenko believed that the Caucasian populations of the species should be assigned to the subspecies A. arethusa pontica Heyne, 1895, which is distinguished by a more contrasting pattern on the wings and a higher saturation of the ocher color, especially on the upper side of the wings. In later publications (Hesselbart et al., 1995; Lvovsky, Morgun, 2007), this subspecies is considered as a synonym for the nominative subspecies ^[3] .

It inhabits the dry grass-mixed steppes, steppe rocky slopes, foothill and mountain steppes at heights of up to 2000 m above sea level . In floodplains, the species is rarely seen on stepped terraces. In the north of the range, it is found in well-preserved sections of the meadow steppe in ravines, gullies, and along slopes. In the Caucasus it inhabits open mountain areas with steppe vegetation and dry-loving shrubs at heights of up to 1700 m above sea level.

It develops a year in one generation. Adult imagination is observed in July - September. Butterflies can often be seen in habitats sitting in dry cereal thickets, on soil or stones, on rocky and sandy roads, and also feeding on flowering plants. Being alarmed, butterflies soar.

The female scatters eggs in the curtains of cereals. Caterpillars hatch and eggs after about 20 days. The caterpillar hibernates at the first age in a folded leaf. They begin to eat and grow actively only after wintering. Feed plants - cereals of the genera Bromus , Dactylis , Festuca , Poa . Pupation in an earthen cradle.

• Arethusana arethusa ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775) - Marigold artesa

• Lvovsky A. L., Morgun D. V. Lepidoptera Lepidoptera in Eastern Europe. - M .: Т-in scientific publications of KMK, 2007. - P. 104. - 443 p. - ISBN 978-5-87317-362-4 .