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 Lasiommata megera  (Linnaeus, 1767)                          Wall Brown                                                       21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 3 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Cyan
          %LRORJ\   (WKRORJ\


 A hilltopping and territorial species, males may defend   3  )OLJKW  SHULRG  DQG  PLJUDWLRQ  WUDFNV  northwards migrating
 their territories day after day; several may congregate   specimens are seen from spring months of late February
 at hilltops. Generally uncommon and local, and scarcer   in the southern Negev to April-May in N Israel. After flying
 than L. maera, with which it is one of the earliest satyrids   north in the Jordan Valley they proceed through Izrael Valley
 to emerge in spring. Males perch or patrol along tracks   to Haifa and around Mt Carmel “cape” fly southwards along
 awaiting females, fly-glide with wings open in V shape, or   the E Mediterranean coast. Their southwards return flights   © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 bask in wait with wings fully open. Males have a strong   are observed from September to November. However, in
                                                                                                        10
 diagonal sex brand on their upf, and begin courting head   our warming up climate, permanent colonies may become   100
 to head, flapping their wings and dispersing androconial   established in favourable, frost-free areas such as the Jordan
 scales and pheromones towards the female antennae.   River – Arava Rift Valley where they fly year round with reduced
 Adults sometimes spend nights under overhanging   activity in the winter.
 rocks. This is a cold resistant species; adults may survive
 in -3°C, larvae in -8°C and pupae in ice (Lafranchis et                          DGXOW  /LIH  KLVWRU\   polyvoltine. Freshly born “virgin” males have to
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 al., 2015: 568-569; Thomas & Lewington 2014: 242).                          HJJ  1 1 1 1  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  collect pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) that are found on withered   © Stav Talal
               lar v a
          pupa
          parts of plants in the families  Boraginaceae, Asteraceae,
          Fabaceae and Apocynaceae spp.. “These phytochemicals are                                      11
 %LRORJ\  partially metabolized by the males…and are converted into
          dihydropyrrolizines which are used as pheromones during
 )OLJKW  SHULRG  February (or earlier) to November,   courtship behaviour”. It was also suggested that the pure PA
 depending on altitude & weather. The author has   stored in the adult’s body serve them as additional protection
 recorded  megera  from the Anti-Lebanon peak at 2814   against predators (Edgar et al., 1979; Smith, A., 2014) PA is
 m in June 1974, at Hulata (70 m, N Sea of Galilee) in   also transmitted by both males and females to the eggs. Males   © Stav Talal
 the lowest point at the upper Jordan valley also in June,   transfer it to the females by seminal infusion, and females
 and at Gitit (300 m) W Bank, Samarian Desert in April; In   that collect PA themselves coat the eggs with PA protecting
 Hatay (common), sl to 2000 m, March-October (Atahan   it against predators (e.g. ants) and egg parasites (e.g. the
 et al., 2018: 101); Cyprus, sl (early February to early   chalcidoid wasp,  Trichogramma spp.), (Bezzerides  et al.,
 1RYHPEHU  D IUHVK ʇ  (-  SHUV  REV    WR 7URRGRV VXPPLW   2004). On 29 Nov. 2021 DB observed several females sipping
 at 1950 m (Makris, 2003: 260); Al-Lazzab reserve Syrian   fluids from Pulicaria dysenterica (Asteraceae); this interesting
 Anti-Lebanon 1828-2602 m (Zarikian & Ghrejyan, 2018).   plant contains over 40 different bioactive components (not
          PAs) including glucosides, flavonoids, phenolic acid, etc.
 /LIH KLVWRU\  polyvoltine. Eggs are laid singly, sometimes   (Cádiz-Gurrea  et al., 2019; Benyamini, 2022a) that function   © Dubi Benyamini
 in pairs, on grasses growing in shady places, or ”in   in addition to the PAs for similar purposes - see egg defence
 clusters on roots or leaves of grasses” (Thomas &   in Vol I. Eggs are laid singly, usually on the underside of the
 Lewington, 2014: 241). The eggs are 1 mm in height,   hostplant’s leaves.  On 16 May 2015 a female laid an egg
 spherical and greenish-white, changing to yellowish   among yellow aphids on Asclepias curassavica – is it a defence
 towards eclosion. L1 hatches after one week and eats   strategy for eggs? (DB breeding notes). The eggs are 1.25 mm
 the eggshell, is 2.5 mm long, yellow, hairy and with a      in height, pale-green and upper-narrowed barrel-shaped. The
 brown head, spotted black; body colour changes to green   eggshell is consumed by the newly hatched larva, which is 3
 when feeding commences. L5 is 25 mm long, green with   mm in length, grey with a black head. Larvae feed non-stop
 light green dorsal and subdorsal longitudinal lines and a   between moults and in maturity are 45 mm long, banded with
 white lateral band, feeding in late afternoon and at night.   Jordan, Wadi Dana,  600 m. 23.5.1998  black and white and with yellow spots along its body. Behind   © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 The suspended pupa is 15 mm long, green (sometimes   L. m. emilyssa  Verity, 1919  the head, on the body and near the tail, are three pairs of
 brown) with 6-7 pairs of small white projections along the   characteristic fleshy filaments, black with red at the base. The   /DUYDO  FDQQLEDOLVP   every African Queen’s breeder
 back, hatches after 10-12 days in the summer but one   spiracles are marked with black. The usual larval coloration   meets this phenomenon that when LHPs are in short
 month in winter in temperatures of 9-12°C. Overwinters   is typically aposematic, bearing warning patterns alerting of   supply the large larvae start feeding on the young
 as a larva, in warm areas it continues to grow slowly   toxicity, but occasionally this is replaced by other forms: the   ones. But it seems that they like consuming fresh
 throughout the winter (Lafranchis et al., 2015: 568-569).     spots are reduced and appear on a grey body ground colour  pupae even more and not necessarily when they are
          (illustr. 10). A second form is extremely rare: the larva is green  hungry; wondering larvae before pupation may eat
 5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV  Poaceae (Gramineae) – Cynodon   with no black and white stripe, and with a white stripe and yellow   fresh pupae, post-moulting larvae are sometimes
 dactylon, Dactylis glomerata, Pennisetum cladestinum,   spots along the sides -illustr. 11. Makris (2003) illustrated a   consumed (BD breeding notes).
 Piptatherum miliaceum,  Poa spp., [C], Schedonorus   third form, where the ground colour of the entire dorsal surface
 arundinaceus [?]. Cyperaceae – Cyperus rotundus [?].  of the larval body is a purple-grey-brown. On 15 August 2019   :LQWHU GLDSDXVH  a direct impact of climate warming
          in Beit Arye (C Israel) at noon time with external temperature   up is overwintering of the African Queen in Israel.
          of 37°C two pre-pupal pendulous “J” shaped  thermoregulated   While chrysippus could do it until recently only in the
 'LVWULEXWLRQ  their bodies’ temperature by turning the lower “leg” towards   warm Jordan River -- Arava Rift Valley enclaves, and
          the sun, changing to “L”- shape to reduce their silhouette and   the Israeli population was depending also on spring
 TL: Austria and Denmark. Widely distributed from N   heat absorption (DB, 2018e). The suspended pupa is 22 mm   migrants from the south, we face now a different
 Africa to most of Europe (up to latitude 60° (Higgins &   long, green, white or pink with golden spots matching pupation   situation: When females lay their last eggs in the fall
 Riley, 1973: 227)), Russia, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria,   base – i.e. green on plants. In paired flight, the female is   at the Mediterranean coastal plains the following
 Lebanon, Israel (south to Susya at Hebron Mt), and   © Dubi Benyamini  carried by the male. But in East Africa DB photographed in cop.   low winter temperatures are below the survivability
 Jordan (south to Petra). Absent from Sinai. Three ssp.   emilyssa (Verity, 1919), TL: Bosporus (Turkey) – Levant;   pairs where females carried the males and have no explanation   threshold and they perish with their eggs, small larvae
 have been reported from the Levant: L. m. transcaspica   and ssp. iranica Riley, 1921, TL: “Kizil-Robat, Mesopotamia;   why it is different in the northern and southern hemispheres   and even pupae while the final instars larvae can
 (Staudinger, 1901) TL: “Tura; Hyrc[ania]” (Iran);  L. m.   Karind Gorge and Harir, N.W. Persia” (Iran).  – i.e. African dominant females versus Levantine/European   withstand and survive low temperatures.
          dominant males.
 48                                                                                                           33
 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   48  12/30/2021   4:22:06 PM  2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   33  12/30/2021   4:21:17 PM
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