Marigold lycaon

Lycaon ( Greek mythology ) - the king of Arcadia, for the blasphemy turned by Zeus into a wolf ^[1] .

The length of the front wing 19-24 mm. Wingspan 36-43 mm. The front wings of the male on the upper side of a gray-brown color with a blind black "eye" at the top. The male-and- colonial field in males is narrow, slightly visible, intersected by two lighter veins. The front wings of females are gray-brown in color, with two large eyes on a common ocher field. On the front wing of females, a yellow border around the upper and lower black eyes usually merges as an eight. Hind wings underneath brownish-gray, without black “eyes”.

Caucasus and Transcaucasia, Central, Southern, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, partly Central Asia, China, Eastern Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Southern Siberia east to Transbaikalia ^[2] .

It inhabits glades well warmed by the sun, forest edges, roadsides along dry pine-trees, xeromorphic meadows, sandy quarries in river valleys, along the mountain river channels among the raznotravya. Sometimes it can be found in anthropogenic xerophytic landscapes. In the mountains of the Carpathians it rises to a height of up to 1160 meters above sea level. In the Greater Caucasus it occurs at altitudes up to 2500 m above sea level, more often at the level of 1000–1700 m above sea level.

Develops in one generation for the year. Butterflies fly from mid-June to late August-early September. In the south of Ukraine, butterflies are sometimes found from the end of May. In the Carpathian mountains, the departure may be delayed until mid-July. Females lay eggs one by one on the leaves of forage plants. The egg stage lasts about 4 weeks. The caterpillars are green, with four light longitudinal lines and two brownish vertical spots on the head. They lead a secretive lifestyle and are active only at night. Caterpillars develop from wintering from August to May-June of the following year. The caterpillars feed on various cereals , such as: straight marrow , bonfire , sheep fescue, red fescue , fescue , bluegrass . It pupates on the plants on the underside of the leaves.

• Hyponephele lycaon lycaon
• Hyponephele lycaon alpherakyi (Sheljuzhko, 1937)
• Hyponephele lycaon catalampra (Staudinger, 1895)
• Hyponephele lycaon jakovlevi Korolev, 2001;
• Hyponephele lycaon salona (Fruhstorfer, 1909)
• Hyponephele lycaon zuvandica Samodurow, Korolew et Tschikolowez, 1996

• Hyponephele lycaon (Rottemburg, 1775) - marigold lycaon
• Crimea Butterflies - Hyponephele lycaon (Kuhn, 1774) - Satyr Lycaon

• Lvov, AL, Morgun, D. V. The Bulausaceous Lepidoptera of Eastern Europe. - M .: Fellowship nauch. ed. KMK, 2007. - 442, [1] p., [4] l. Il .: Il. - (Determinants of the flora and fauna of Russia; issue. 8).