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 )OLJKW SHULRG  ‘early February to mid-April in up to three
 broods; each brood only flies for a very short period’
 (Pittaway, 1979: 96); variable, between early February
 and early April in a rainy year, but only mid to late April in   M. persea
 #
 a dry year (Pittaway 1981: 31); February to May (Larsen,   M.a. acentria
 1983: 434); February – April (Walker & Pittaway, 1987:
 94). Numbers and flight period fluctuate each year,   M. acentria ssp. ?
 depending on the weather. In some dry years no adults   © DUBI Benyamini  © DUBI Benyamini       © DUBI Benyamini
 are produced (Larsen, 1983: 434; Pittaway; 1985: 191).
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 13 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Magenta
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 13 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Yellow
 #21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 13 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Black
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 13 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:18 | SR:-- | Cyan
 /LIH  KLVWRU\  egg laying was never observed (Pittaway,   M. a. arabica
 pers. comm. to DB) but aggregation of larvae strongly
 suggest that it does not differ from the northern  M.  a.                           DGXOW
 acentria, i.e. eggs are laid in batches on the LHP low                          HJJ  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12
                       lar v a
                  pupa
 down near the ground. Young larvae are gregarious,
 later spreading over the hostplant where “...some areas
 being completely stripped of leaves, flowers, as well as
 seedpods” (Pittaway, 1979: 96). The life cycle of  M.  a.
 arabica matches the seasonality of its sole LHP; in spring   © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 when blue ‘carpets’ of the LHP cover the biotope arabica   4
 manages to rapidly produce two generations. At this time
 its greatest enemy is the domestic goat which, having
 exhausted the less aromatic plants, moves on to nibble   Holotype
 the LHP. However, by this period the final brood small (L2
 – L3) larvae have already finished their growth and are
 hiding in their summer diapause at the base of the LHP.
 Pittaway (1985: 191) did not record any adults following   7
 a ‘very dry winter and spring’ of 1984, suggesting that
 the diapausing L3 larvae did not emerge from their
 diapause web and ‘skipped an unfavourable year’. Such   © Dubi Benyamini                         © Dubi Benyamini
 long-term larval summer diapause in Nymphalidae /   M. a. arabica
 Melitainae is yet unknown to DB (except Melitaea spp. in
 high latitudes where larval overwintering of cold period
 may last more than a year). The pupa (12-15 mm long)
 is typical Melitaea, in being pearly white with small black
 and tan specks. These are normally formed at the base
 of the LHP, although many of the first generation hang
 fully exposed on the upper stems, where they form up in
 a week (Pittaway, 1979: 96). [Both the L5 larva and pupa
 are illustrated in monochrome in Pittaway (1979: plate
 vii), and in color in Walker & Pittaway (1987: 94).]
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 © Tony Pittaway w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w w a ay y y y y y y y y y y y y y
 5HFRUGHG  KRVWSODQWV  solely the perennial  Teucrium
 oliverianum (Lamiaceae) - illustr. 8 - the Desert   2
 Germander, that following the winter rains cover wadi   © Dubi Benyamini  © Zvika Avni           © Eran Benyamini
 bottoms with carpets of blue (Pittaway; 1979: 96). It is “A
 leafy bushy woody stemmed perennial herb with rounded
 stems to 40 cm tall…abundant in scattered localities in
 the north” (Collenette, 1999: 466).  Teucrium orientale
 L. is a secondary LHP of M. a. acentria on Mt Hermon –
 illustr. 9. The Arabian Fritillary was not found by DB on     paratype of ´M. persea sargonµ
 Hemming, 1932,
 Teucrium pruinosum Boiss. in S Jordan – illustr. 1 (det.   Jordan, Wadi Rajil 20.4.1927
 Dr Ori Fragman-Sapir, Jerusalem botanical gardens).
 © Trustees Natural History Museum London, used with permission
     crack itself has become a major wadi (Wadi Hanifa) and
 'LVWULEXWLRQ  sink for water, hence the numerous oases (Pittaway, pers.
 comm. to DB). Also recorded from: Sudus, Wadi Durmah,
 distributed in central Saudi Arabia along a narrow strip   Wadi Hanifa and Diriyah (Larsen, 1983). On 30.3.1983
 of ‘hills’, from Ad Dilam (south of Riyadh) to Az Zilfi   the first brooded parartypes were collected at Al Ghat at
 (near Al Ghat) to the northwest of Riyadh, always in the   the northern end of the Jabal Tuwaiq (1150 m). Although
 main wadis which run off the Jabal Tuwaiq escarpment.   searched for, this taxon was never found in the Jabal
 Actually, these hills fringe a long ‘crack’ in the limestone   Shammar farther north. It is unlikely to be found there as
 of the Nejd Plateau into which numerous wadis flow. The   no suitable hostplants were found (Pittaway, 1985: 191).  © Eran Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 204                                                                                                          197
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