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 Melitaea israela  Benyamini, Tomer & Coutsis 2021 n. sp. Hermon Fritillary                                                    21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 13 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Cyan



 Local, rare, fragile - vulnerable  Melitaea sp. of Mt Hermon
 at 1600-2000 m middle heights. It was overlooked for
 many years among five other syntopic and synchronous
 Melitaea species;  Melitaea acentria,  M.  cinxia,  M.  collina,
 M.  deserticola &  M.  syriaca. An additional complication to
 separating by wing characters the new species especially
 from its closest relatives, such as are the syntopic M. acentria
 and  M.  deserticola as well as the allotopic  M.  didyma was
 the great size variability of these spp. where first broods
 are usually larger. Four events uncovered the existence
 of a 6th  Melitaea sp. in Mt Hermon: 1. For many years DB
 looked for M. didyma on Mt Hermon where its lower altitude
 LHP Antirrhinum majus was not found. A similar sp. that he
 collected was believed by him to belong to the highly variable
 M. persea montium. 2. Ofir Tomer collected its first brood in
 May and realized that it is more reddish than other spp. 3.   Explanatory drawing of male genitalia   © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 When Ofir collected it also in Gebel Rus (Har Agas – Shnunim
 Valley) 1100 m, on 12 may 2000 during ILS field trip to N   13
 Golan he realized that it cannot be M. persea montium nor M.
 didyma. 4. Then, Lukhtanov (2017) described M. acentria and
 mentioned the existence of M. didyma liliputana in the same
 type-locality and presented a single small male of the latter
 in Fig. 10(g). Discussing the identity of this 6th Mt. Hermon
 Melitaea Coutsis at first thought it to be M. gina Higgins, 1941,
 but soon dismissed it on account of differences between the
 two in the ground-colour of the upper side of their wings.
 Upon dissecting a good number of male Melitaea taxa that
 included  persea (mostly from Iran), didyma, hybrids  persea
 x didyma (from Iran and Turkey), acentria and the presently
 described israela sp. nov., he found the following differences   M. didyma   distal process of valva: base wide, ventrum without
 carinate element; aedeagus: dorso-lateral ridge low.
 in their PDOH JHQLWDOLD
 Melitaea persea   a. Distal process of valva QDUURZ at base,
 and  KDYLQJ ventral, serrated carinate structure.  E  Lateral
 sclerotized element of tegumen in lateral aspect shaped like
 a “VPRNHU·V SLSH”. F  Dorso-lateral ridges of aedeagus KLJK.    © Dubi Benyamini                   © Ofir Tomer

 Melitaea didyma   a. Distal process of valva  YHU\  ZLGH at
 base, and  ZLWKRXW ventral, serrated carinate structure. E
 Distal extremity of lateral sclerotized element of tegumen in
 lateral aspect shaped like a “SLVWRO”. F  Dorso-lateral ridges
 of aedeagus ORZ.

 +\EULGV  persea  x  didyma:  a. Distal process of valva as in
 persea, but ventral, serrated carinate structure often less   M. acentria   distal process of valva: base narrow, ventrum with
 developed. E. Distal extremity of lateral sclerotized element of   carinate element; aedeagus: dorso-lateral ridge high.
 tegumen in lateral aspect usually intermediate between that
 of persea and didyma in a variety of combinations. F. Dorso-
 lateral ridges of aedeagus KLJK.

 Melitaea acentria   a. Distal process of valva  QDUURZ at
 base, and  KDYLQJ ventral, serrated, carinate structure.  E.
 Distal extremity of lateral sclerotized element of tegumen in
 lateral aspect shaped like a “SLVWRO”. F. Dorso-lateral ridges
 of aedeagus KLJK.

 Melitaea israela  a. Distal process of valva QDUURZHU at base
 than in didyma but ZLGHU than in acentria, and ZLWKRXW ventral,
 serrated carinate structure.  E. Distal extremity of lateral   M. israela  distal process of valva: base narrow, ventrum without
 sclerotized element of tegumen in lateral aspect shaped like   carinate element; aedeagus: dorso-lateral ridge low.
 a “SLVWRO”. F. Dorso-lateral ridges of aedeagus ORZ.
 Distal process of valvae of three male genitalias
 of didyma, acentria & israela                            © Dubi Benyamini                        © Dubi Benyamini

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 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   208  12/30/2021   4:30:09 PM  2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   193  12/30/2021   4:29:23 PM
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