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473, Pls. 38/39 - 7) Butterflies of Iran collected by Bahrami Four of her offspring bred on A. curassavica turned to be 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 2 - B | 21-12-22 | 12:22:47 | SR:-- | Cyan
in Hormozgan, Isin, 250 m in March 1997. The first f. griseus; paratype (PT) no’ 22 a male hatched on 29 July Subfamily 6DW\ULQDH Boisduval, 1833
Israeli record was a male collected by Itzhak Movshovitz 2018. Three additional PT23-25 females hatched in the
on 6 Sept. 1988 in an elevated opening on the banks of first week of August (all coll. DB).
HaTaninim (Crocodile) River near the Roman historic bridge DE candidata Hayward, 1923 (The “Egyptian pallidus
between Jisr az-Zarqa village (Arabic for the blue bridge) /griseus”): British army, Capt. Kenette J. Hayward served
and Kibbutz Ma’agan Michael. Three days later he paid a between Sept. 1919 and March 1922 in Aswan, upper
second visit and observed all together about ten “pallidus” Egypt. His interest in the biology of D. chrysippus resulted
flying among hundreds typical chrysippus on both sides in breeding over 6000 individuals and ‘examining some Kirinia Moore, 1893
of the bridge in about 150X150 m large flat open field. 4000 specimens’ - among them he found and described
Additional 5 males and two females were collected there two rare aberrants; illustrated short tailed ab. axantha 5 species, Palaearctic.
until 3 Oct. 1988 by two more collectors and are included and two specimens of ab. candidata (not illustr.) (Hayward, Kirinia roxelana
in pallidus type series (Benyamini, 2015e)*. This location 1922 & 1923). The frequency of ab, candidata 2:10000 1 species in the Levant.
at 32°32’55.95”N and 34°54’53.50”E, 4 m asl is only a = 0.02% is within the rarity range of ff. pallidus/griseus. +RVWSODQWV Poaceae.
few hundred meters from the Mediterranean coast near With absence of its fig. in its original description DB
the estuary of the river. Nili Shahar (Israel, Kidron) a could rely only of its wording: “Abdomen above ash-grey…
professional butterfly breeder of African Queens managed beneath light grey…wings…pale whitish-buff…costal and
to get ca 20 pallidus out of thousands normal chrysippus basal areas of the fore wings grey, the epical patches and
she was supplying every week to wedding ceremonies. In margins black marked with white as in chrysippus (and
June 2009 she isolated the pallidus in a separate large pallidus/griseus DB) the veins light grey”. The word “grey”
breeding cage trying to get pure grey homozygotes and that appear four times and “pale whitish” once resulted
a permanent greenhouse community for her commercial in DB’s suspicion that ab. candidata is actually the first
activities – comparable to the work on the white Monarch description of f. pallidus. Finally in 9/2021 when R. Vane-
f. nivosus of Hawaii; but insufficient supply of hostplant Wright sent him the photograph of candidata types and it
stopped her experiment. Six years elapsed and pallidus turned to be a different butterfly where its BUFF color is Lasiommata Westwood, 1841
appeared again in HaSharon – Binyamina plains of C. indeed identical to its definition in Maerz & Paul (1950)
Israel. Of special concern were the deserted green houses Dictionary of Color in plate 11 fig K7 where it appeared 16 species, Palaearctic & 2 African.
of Maor village where thousands of fully developed between Honey-sweet / Brass / Inca Gold / Yellow Ocher Lasiommata maera
cultivated Gomphocarpus fruticosus (Apocynaceae ex and Nugget- Bronze faraway from pallidus/griseus’ grey 2 species in the Levant.
Asclepiadaceae) attracted the local chrysippus and within basic tone – illustr. 5 +RVWSODQWV Cyperaceae, Poaceae.
a few weeks produced a local population of thousands I RULHQWLV (Aurivillius 1909) that was described as “var. of
specimens. Between 18 July and 22 August 2015 DB Danaida chrysippus” from Comoro Is. Malagasy Republic”
observed between 3000 to 10000 individuals a day in his is distinguished by the larger subapical white spots in
daily visits; mostly inside the central greenhouse where forewing spaces 4 & 5 and a submarginal white spot in
“cyclone” of thousands chrysippus were flying in ca 10 the orange/brown area of fw space 2 (illustr. 6) and is
meters circle around the central powerful lamps. 99.97% regarded by Smith (2014: 198) as semispecies. Aurivillius
of the flying queens were the orange – brown chrysippus characterized it as an Indian Ocean islands race but is
forms and only 0.03% were pallidus. * However the pallidus now accepted as the dominant form in most of southern
proportion in a certain local population can be much Africa. Further northwards in E Africa it “occurs seasonally
higher and is pending the occurrence of a homozygous in Tanzania...and is very rare in Kenya and Uganda (below Pararge Hübner, [1819]
female; it happened in the type-locality in Sept. 1988 1%, Smith 2014: 200 & unpublished info.)”. But while it is
where eight of the type series were collected within a (still) absent in Sudan, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula it 3 species, Palaearctic.
small area (Benyamini, 2015e). It also happened in a DB’s was very rare in the Levant and far out of Smith’s (2014: 1 species in the Levant.
breeding experiment in late Sept. 2018 when three out Fig 1.13) distribution map, DB collected the first orientis Pararge aegeria
of 40 bred adults from Alexander River, HaSharon Plains (female) in Bat Galim, Haifa, Israel on 27 Oct. 1960 and +RVWSODQWV Poaceae.
(7.5%) were pallidus (two females and one male). a female ex larva on Cynanchum acutum from the banks
* f. pallidus remained “loyal” to its T.L. in HaSharon- of the Kishon River, Haifa hatched on 20 Oct. 1969. The
Binyamina plains except two other biotopes: a. On 30 Oct. first specimen (male) to Jordan; bred from a larva found
2010 in Ein Afeq, N Israel a few pallidus were observed on Gomphocarpus sinaicus in Wadi Rum and hatched on
and additional one the following year (A. Oz pers. comms.). 22 May 1998 – illustr. 6 (Benyamini 2015e: 94, Fig. 2
b. One worn male was photographed on 10 July 2020 - l, m ,n) Stav Talal photographed a rare male alcippus
near the Yarkon River sources, Rosh-Ha’ayin, E Tel Aviv with the typical orientis white spot in Ein Afek reserve, N
(Meyuhas & Laudon, 2020). Israel on 8 August 2008 - illustr. Dick Vane-Wright opined
1HZ I griseus Benyamini, 2021. Over 50% of the on this: “Great photograph! I would have little hesitation
pallidus types (Benyamini, 2015) were not pale – white in calling your Israeli specimen f. ‘alcippoides’. Compare
and the colour of their upper surface of all four wings with Moore’s original figure (the type locality is “Nepal” Coenonympha Hübner, [1819]
was grey. This is a mirror image of f. chrysippus honey - he described it as a new species): Your specimen has
coloured to f. aegyptius whole deep-brown colour. The less white on hw -- but that is the norm for what is usually About 40 species, Holarctic.
Holotype is from Maor Village, Hasharon 30 m, 1 Aug. called ‘alcippoides’. Note the ‘orientis spot’ in both -- and 3 species in the Levant.
2015 – ex pallidus paratype no’ 13 and the Allotype is the rather broad forewing white preapical band”. Dick Coenonympha pamphilus
also from Maor Village 27 July 2015 – ex pallidus paratype highlighted a neglected complication; the type specimen +RVWSODQWV Cyperaceae, Iridaceae, Poaceae.
no’ 11– illustr. X. Names of pratypes Nos 12, 16, 17, 19, of alcippoides (Moore, 1883) is also orientis (Aurivillius
20 & 21 (Benyamini, 2015c) are changed to griseus. On 2 1909)! The year 2016 was the best ever recorded for
June 2018 a chrysippus female was collected at Alexander Levant’s orientis; On 25 March 2016 in the garden of
Rivulet HaShaon, Israel, 10 m, flying in fields of C. acutum. Hilton Marsa Alam Nubian Resort on the western coast of

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