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Hipparchia cypriensis olik, 1949 Cyprus Grayling

0\ ÀUVW YLVLW WR &\SUXV LQ -XO\ ZDV RQ ERDUG 'DNRWD '& puddling near water streams, wherefrom a few females
that landed in Nicosia for a short stop-over between Haifa were taken for breeding. Caged females in Alethrico, SL near
and Athens. During refuelling and cooling the engines I could Larnaca, Cyprus S coast started to lay eggs at noon time on
see the Troodos peaks at the south and dreamed to visit it. mesh walls and dry grass blades between 17-23 September
Seventeen years elapsed before it came true in my second 2QO\ ÀYH HJJV ZHUH ODLG LQ WKH ÀUVW GD\ EXW ´ VXGGHQ
touristic/sportive summer visit; In Larnaka I hired a 650 CC HJJ OD\LQJ LQWHQVLÀHG WR WHQV SHU GD\ PD\ EH GXH WR GURS
powerful motorcycle to ride the mountains to Platres and the in night temperature with dew formation in the morning.”
&HGDU IRUHVWV ,W ZDV P\ ÀUVW DFTXDLQWDQFH ZLWK WKH &\SULRW (Aristos Aristophanous mail to DB on 24 September 2012). 7
Grayling endemic - H. cypriensis; in every stop in the Troodos A year later in Beit Arye 350 m C Israel egg laying proceeded
mountains “clouds” of hundreds brown large satyrids in until 12 October 2013. Fresh white, barrel shaped eggs are © Marios Aristodolos © Marios Aristodolos © Marios Aristodolos
communal roosting were common everywhere; under bushes 0.7-0.8 mm wide and 0.8-0.9 mm high, with 24-28 vertical
and in the forest – no doubt, the most common species in the ribs (50% of eight measured eggs had 28 ribs). Consuming
whole island (Benyamini, 1992b). Similar in appearance to part of the eggshell 2 mm long L1 hatched after 5-6 days.
Hipparchia pellucida, but with a much smaller sex-brand and Seven brown or reddish-brown longitudinal lines over a
hindwing underside a pale grey. Adults eclose at the end of light pinkish-brown body and head that darken backwards
March and early April at lowlands and later upwards to ~ 500 with yellow spots near the spiracles, short hairs and tiny
m or more. Soon after they start mating: “...I found mating IRUNHG WDLO / VWDUWHG D VKRUW GLDSDXVH XQWLO WKH ÀUVW UDLQV
Hipparchia cypriensis often in April and May at the lowlands. and the following growth of young seedlings of its Poaceae
During the summer, on Troodos, the females are commoner, KRVW SODQWV LWV ÀUVW SUHIHUUHG IRRG *URZLQJ RXWGRRUV LQ
but males are not rare. I have only one observation of mating Beit Arye (350 m, C Israel) in a large breeding cage it used
in summer – autumn; on 8 October 2009 I took a photo of three hostplants: Piptatherum miliaceum, Poa annua and
a mating pair at 1100m“ – illustr., the GPS location is 1.6 Brachypodium sylvaticum.
km SE of Pano Panagia village, located in a vineyard, only On 28 October 2013 twenty 2 mm long motionless L1 were © Walfgang Wagner © Walfgang Wagner
100 m from natural Mediterranean maquis and 25 km NE observed on dry grasses. On 7 December 2013, 5-10 mm
of the coastal Mediterranean city of Paphos (Makris, pers. long L2/L3 light brown with brown strips were observed
comm. to DB). One more autumn mating was recorded “At on green seedlings of grasses. On 28 December 2013 the
Platres, on 6 October 1974, I disturbed 2 Graylings in cop..” largest larva attained 15 mm length. On 27 January 2014,
5RE 3DUNHU SHUV FRPP WR '% 3RVVLEO\ ÀUVW WR UHFRUG WKH 10-22 mm long L3/L4. On 21 February 2014, 16-25 mm
Cyprus Grayling seasonal, early summer up-hill migration in long L4/L5 light brown with mid-dorsal dark brown strip
May-June, near Kannaviou Reservoir’s dam was a French and sub-dorsal lines of different shades of brown, six brown
engineer, working in building the dam (EJ pers. comm.). It lines proceed to the forehead and lower side thin black
congregates in large numbers in forested areas above ca strip sections and on 2 March 2014 fully grown L5 were
1000 m in summer, from which areas it is readily disturbed 25-27 mm long. The larvae at all stages were nocturnal and
from a light aestivation among pine trees. A known mud & hiding during day at bottom of the grass, but on 2 March
dung puddler, taking sap / resins on trunks of pine trees 2014 at noon time three L5 were observed feeding on
H. cypriensis disperses in summer to sources of water up green blades of Piptatherum LHP – illusrt.. Seven L5 were
to hundreds of metres away from its aestivation sites. In isolated in a box with a grit bottom and started to pupate
early autumn, H. cypriensis has been observed returning below surface between 12-17 March 2014. Using silk, a
to egg-laying sites at lowland areas up to 60 km away and ÁH[LEOH VXEWHUUDQHDQ FKDPEHU FRDWHG ZLWK VRLO SDUWLFOHV ZDV © Dubi Benyamini © Wolfgang Ekweiler
QHFWDULQJ RQ LWV SUHIHUUHG \HOORZ ÁRZHUHG Inula viscosa prepared, with a side hole for the emerging adult. But where
(Asteraceae) (John & Parker, 2002). Such dispersals from burrowing is not possible, the pupa is formed on the surface,
breeding areas to summer aestivation sites or backwards beneath litter. The pupa is formed ventral side up, 18 mm
are known in Hipparcia semele (Kudrna (1974) in S Spain long and 7 mm wide, light brown, wing cases and thorax
and Feltwell (1976) in S France), H. senthes (Kocak (1986 smooth turning dark brown before eclosion. Males hatched
and in Hesselbarth et al., 1995(2): 902) in Kayaliyatak, W ÀUVW RQ $SULO DQG IHPDOHV IROORZHG LPPHGLDWHO\ RQ
Ankara, Turkey), Coutsis in Hydra Isl., Greece (pers. comm. April 2014 both genders after pupal period of 5 weeks.
to DB) & DB in Hatay, S Turkey (pers. obs.). Its complete life
KLVWRU\ LV GHVFULEHG KHUH IRU WKH ÀUVW WLPH 5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV Poaceae (Gramineae) spp. it always
preferred Piptatherum spp. in its breeding labs in Cyprus and
Israel, but used also Poa annua (illustr.) and Brachypodium
%LRORJ\ sylvaticum.

)OLJKW SHULRG March to November with mid-summer partial
aestivation over ~1000 m in the Troodos mountains. 'LVWULEXWLRQ

/LIH KLVWRU\ “The authors welcome further information on TL: Not stated in Cyprus. An endemic species to Cyprus
the life-history of Hipparchia cypriensis..” John & Parker’s (formerly listed as Hipparchia pellucida ssp. cypriensis,
(2002) last line in their summary and I am happy to comply: but raised to species rank by Kudrna (1986)). Distributed
Certainly univoltine. In mid Septembers 2012 and again in all the island from sl to the Troodos peak, practically not
in 2013 only a few gravid females remained in the upper recorded in the Mesaoria plains in N. C. Cyprus.
Troodos Mt near Trooditissa, 1500 m but they were very
common in lower altitudes at Platania picnic area near
Kakopetria 1100-1200 m always on Pine trunks or mud © Cristodoulos Makris

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2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd 100 12/30/2021 4:24:49 PM 2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd 109 12/30/2021 4:25:17 PM