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Last year summer of 2020 was the long-awaited start quantities of rainfall and higher temperatures. In our
of Butterflies of the Levant’s series of four volumes historical corner on earth, one of the important cradles
summarizing Dubi Benyamini’s 70 years with the wider of humankind we try to fulfill our basic commitment to
Levants’ butterflies. At that time we published Vol II our family’s lives through protecting our friends, the
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including three butterfly families; Papilionidae, Pieridae best ecological indicators – the butterflies. In 1983 I led
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& Hesperiidae. Now in autumn 2021 we go to print with the establishment of the Israeli Lepidopterists’ Society,
Vol III – The Nymphalidae including eight sub-families, in 2008 succeeded with a few dedicated colleagues to
81 antries ( 80 species) including two new species, three declare 14 butterfly species as protected by law and
new subspecies and eight new aberrantions comprising since 2009 started our Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
five Melitaeas. (BMS Israel) where more and more people in the Israeli
The Covid 19 plague with its multiple “exponential” society understand the importance of our contribution
number of variants seriously changed our lives all over to save our dwindling natural resources. I still believe
the globe and now when we go to print with Vol III we face that our efforts are important part of the corner-stone
40% rise in paper and 15% in labor costs – not easy for needed to save humanity.
us and for our readers...
This series is dedicated to all the butterfly enthusiasts in
While Vol II highlighted the addition of numerous new the Israeli Lepidopterists Society, to the growing number
species to Egypt and Hejaz in NW Saudi Arabia. Vol III of butterfly monitoring individuals, communities,
is dealing more profoundly with the genus Melitaea mentors, data collecting & processing experts and to
describing two new species and two new subspecies. This world lepidopterists that fight the same battle with us.
exceptional effort could not achieve its goals without the In the long attached acknowledgement I did my best to
professional contribution of two leading world experts, enumerate all my supporters, my wife, family members,
my dear colleagues and friends: Dr. John G. Coutsis of assistants, friends, lepidopterists, museums staff,
Athens, Greece and Dr. Peter Russell of Oakmeadow, W photographers and other good souls that helped me
Sussex, UK. In Vol III we proceeded with the principle during the last seven decades to achieve my goals and
of presenting max. available information from all known vision.
publications and pers. comms. on top of the vast
breeding volumes of the author. Thus, up to two pages
were sufficient to present the early stages, distribution,
phenology and etology of a species but sixteen spp.
included a lot of new unpublished information and
needed more space; Three pages for Hipparchia pisidice.
Four pages for Melanargia titea, Chazara persephone, Dubi Benyamini,
Hipparchia fatua, Pseudochazara telephassa, Ypthima Beit Arye Israel,
asterope, Junonia hierta, J. orithya, Melitaea arduinna, Autumn 2021; Hanukkah 5782 (Ĝ“įĴĵ‘ğ).
M. acentria, M. a. arabica & M. deserticola. Five pages
for Limenitis reducta. Six pages for Vanessa cardui & V.
atalanta. Eight full pages hardly included the necessary Country No. of Specimens
space of describing Danaus chrysippus and its nine
“forms” in the Levant, that is comparable only to the Cyprus 95
chrysippus complex - diversity in the hybrid zone in East Egypt (west of the Red Sea & the Suez Canal) 29
Africa and Ethiopia. Sinai (Egypt) 381
Israel (incl. Mt Hermon) 3485
Our editorial board suffered the mid-work resignation
of Eddie John who gave priority to his Cypriot parallel Jordan 135
project; I wish him success because it is also my success. Lebanon 398
Prof. Arthur M. Shapiro (Davis, California) joined us NW Saudi Arabia (Hejaz) 121
quickly and is a great and blessed reinforcement just on Syria 67
time – thank you Art.
The life of the Levant’s butterflies is gaining new S Turkey * 312
threats in the Anthropocene epoch – frightening quick Total 5023
loss and destruction of natural habitats. The world
climate crisis to humanity is expressed in the Levant Table 1. (Updated from Vol. II) – Number of Levant specimens in coll.
with intensifying extreme synoptic weather events; on- Dubi Benyamini (* Hatay, 2001 & 2002, with official collecting permits).
going desiccation – desertification caused by shrinking The collection was officialy donated to the Steinhardt Museum of Natural
History, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
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