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Maniola megala  Oberthür 1909                     Large Meadow Brown                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 5 - A | 22-01-02 | 12:34:17 | SR:-- | Cyan   #21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21



 A rare butterfly in Hatay, its sole penetration to N Levant.
 Only a few observations exist: Atahan (pers. comm.) recorded
 LW  DW  =L\DUHW  'Dø        P  6  $PDQRV  EHWZHHQ  6DPDQGDø  DQG
 <D\ODGDøL LQ -XO\       '% UHFRUGHG LW LQ DQ RSHQ IRUHVW DERYH                                                                                                                                                                                                  5
 Belen, C Amanos, 750 m on 13.7 2001 flying around and   © Feza Can  © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 over small trees in a more powerful flight than M. telmessia
 (Benyamini, 2001e), in the same area a year later on 1.6.2002
 at 846 m (Benyamini & Tomer, 2002) and in the picnic area
 W Serinyol, 17 km N Antakya, 220 m, on 25.9.2013 where a
 large female was flying together with  M.  telmessia females,
 both species after summer aestivation where they undergo
 delayed ovarian maturation (see Scali, 1971 for  M. jurtina).
 The biotope is along a rivulet within a Pine forest. The rains                          DGXOW
                       HJJ  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12
 that started in the area four days earlier catalysed egg laying                 lar v a
          pupa
 of both species. (Hesselbarth et al., 1995(2): 823) stated this   © Dubi Benyamini  © Dubi Benyamini
 to be a species of forest meadows below 1000-1200 m; on
 Lésvos island E Aegean Sea, Russell & Hall (2009) failed to
 find the species above 20 m. Pamperis (2009) indicated that
 M.  megala has a preference for wet areas. Generally larger
 than other very similar Maniola spp. (jurtina and telmessia),
 with which M. megala flies in Hatay.


 %LRORJ\
 )OLJKW  SHULRG  late May to late September (after summer
 aestivation). 600 – 1400 m in Hatay (Atahan et al., 2018: 94;   © Dubi Benyamini                 © Dubi Benyamini
 DB pers. obs.).

 /LIH KLVWRU\  univoltine. Early stages unknown*, except number
 of longitudinal ribs of the egg; 19-21 (Tolman 1997: 236).
 Russel who tried several times to breed it from females taken
 to the UK but did not lay eggs summarized his experience with
 the species preferred biotope and ethology to DB: ‘The females
 appear only a few days after the males – we found fresh males
 28 May and saw first female 2 June. We did not see the end of
 their flight periods. We saw them nectaring only on Brambles
 (Rubus sp.) it was the same in W Turkey. The most obvious
 feature of their biotopes on both Lesbos and Turkey was high
 humidity – they were always near flowing or stagnant water –
 rivers/streams, with lush vegetation, particularly tall grasses,
 Oleander (in Turkey), Sallow/Willow (Salix sp.) and plenty of
 brambles. They like shady places to rest – in Lesbos under
 mature Pine trees, in Turkey Oriental Plane trees (Platanus
 orientalis) growing along the river bank. Six females that were   © Ofir Tomer
 collected in Lesbos lived three months in captivity but did not   ‹ 2ÀU 7RPHU
 lay eggs. On a visit to Lesbos in September I could not find   Mediterranean coast provinces of Turkey to Hatay. A
 a single specimen having tried all the localities – plenty of   thorough comparison of megala isolated populations
 telmessia but no megala. I just do not know when they lay or   in Lésvos Isl. (E Aegean Sea) with Akbès (TL in CS
 indeed if or how long they aestivate’. The answer is possibly   7XUNH\  DQG 0XøOD  6: 7XUNH\  UHYHDOHG VLJQLILFDQW
 given by the author’s observations near Serinyol – see above,   differences in wingspan measurements where
 Russell (2012 & pers. comm. to DB).     Akbès specimens were much larger than the others
 * Green frames arround the photographs of the eggs, larva & pupae   and the Lésvos were the smallest but Russell (2012)
 are of M. telmessia.   concluded that while there is a “cline in reducing
 size running from east to west….the species on
 +RVWSODQWV  Probably Poaceae (Gramineae) – Poa spp., Avena   Lésvos is conspecific with  M.  megala”. A more
 barbata [?]  recent (Anastassiu  et al., 2016b) second opinion
 with emphasis on genitalia differences studied
 by Anastassiu was the same. Coutsis & Ghavalas
 'LVWULEXWLRQ  reached a similar conclusion and stated that “based
 on our own personal experiences…M.  megala on
 TL: Akbès (N Hatay Prov., Turkey). M. megala has a distribution   Lésvos Island…cannot be considered as irrevocably
 restricted to the island of Lésvos (Lesbos) and southern   representing a separate subspecies in its own right”.   ‹ 2ÀU 7RPHU  © Dubi Benyamini


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 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   68  12/30/2021   4:23:10 PM  2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   77  12/30/2021   4:23:37 PM
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