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Hyponephele wagneri (Herrich-Schäffer, [1846]) Oriental Steppe Brown

Possibly the rarest butterfly in the Levant, with only one
confirmed record to date (on 30.8.2012) from the east
of Haydarlar village (320 m), south of Hassa, NE Hatay,
six km from the Syrian border. The discoverer, Dr Ali
#
Atahan (Antakia city, Hatay), has made numerous visits ?
to the area each year, but has not repeated his success.
Similarly, on 25.9.2013, DB visited the biotope – a
strange isolated flat, volcanic rocky plain with little soil or
© Adam Warecki
vegetation – where only a few butterflies were observed, © Martin Wiemers
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 4 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Magenta
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 4 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Yellow
including Maniola telmessia ʆ DQG Pieris rapae, but a
#21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 4 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Black
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 4 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Cyan
careful full-day search of the biotope and nearby hills up
to 600 m, did not yield another wagneri. The source of
the singleton (a migrant?) is possibly the northwestern DGXOW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
8
HJJ
Syrian mountains. In 2016, Noushig Zarikian (a PhD lar v a
pupa
student at Yerevan Inst. of Zoology, Armenia), published
a comparative study of the butterflies collected during
2009-2012 expeditions in various places in Syria (incld.
Aleppo). Zarikian (2016) included H. wagneri but did
not appreciate that this represented the first record © Adam Warecki © Adam Warecki © Martin Wiemers
for Syria (pers. comm. to DB). This handsome species
has an elongated upf apical ocelli, a conspicuous unh
white post discal band, and sharply pointed, scalloped
hindwing outer margin.
%LRORJ\

)OLJKW SHULRG on the wing from early June to late July
(when males perish); females aestivate until the end of
August/early September, when they resume flying and
oviposit. The sole Levant specimen was photographed in
late August and possibly represents a post-aestivation
female, seeking egg-laying sites (Atahan et al., 2018: 92
& pers. comm. to DB). © Martin Wiemers
/LIH KLVWRU\ nothing is known about its early stages.
Univoltine, confined to rocky slopes with sparse vegetation
(Hesselbarth et al., 1995(2): 815 fig 1). Recorded nectar
sources are flowers of Centaurea spp. (Hesselbarth et
al., 1995(2): 831). Their biology should be similar to
their congeners, where the L1 overwinters and develops © Martin Wiemers
slowly, feeding on the freshly growing grasses, pupating
in spring and emerging in early summer.

5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV Poaceae (Gramineae) – various
grasses.

'LVWULEXWLRQ © Adam Warecki © Dubi Benyamini

TL: “von der Südseite des Ararat” (S Ararat Mt, E Turkey).
Turkey, Armenia, NW Syria, N Iraq, Iran, W Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Baluchistan (?) and Turkmenistan(?). The
nominotypical ssp. flies in N Levant region of Turkey and
Syria (Atahan et al., 2018: 92; Eckweiler & Bozano 2011:
52; Tshikolovets, 2011: 349; Zarikian, 2016).

‹ 2ÀU 7RPHU © Adam Warecki © Martin Wiemers © Martin Wiemers

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2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd 60 12/30/2021 4:22:51 PM 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd 53 12/30/2021 4:22:29 PM