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(Linnaeus, 1758)              African Queen                                                                                                                                                                                                              2

                                                                         Hyponephele lupinus  Hyponephele Muschamp, 1915             (Beirut, Lederer, 1858), the Sinai Peninsula (Benyamini, 1984),
                                                                                                                                     other Lavant countries where single records reported in: Lebanon

                                                                                                                                     Jordan (Dana Reserve, Benyamini, 2002a) and Cyprus (Ellison
                                                                             About 63 species, Palaearctic.
                                                                                                                                     and Wiltshire, 1939; John & Vane-Wright, 2019). The first Israeli
                                                                                                                                     alcippus (male, illustr. 2) was collected by DB near the Kishon
                                                                             3 species in the Levant.
                                                                                                                                     (also Qishon) River, Haifa in 11 Oct. 1969, two more males and
                                                                             +RVWSODQWV  Poaceae.
                                                                                                                                     two females were observed. In the same date and locality the
                                                                                                                                     first  dorippus  (transiens male, illustr. 3) was collected by DB.
                                                                                                                                     This coincidence was possibly a result of a southerly jet stream
                                                                                                                                     + subsidence or an RST tropical storm that carried it to coastal
                                                                                                                                     Israel. Same coincidence was reported by Lederer (1858) when
                                                                                                                                                                                                    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 1
                                                                                                                                                                                                               567
                                                                                                                                                                                                               567
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 1
                                                                                                                                                                                                               56
                                                                                                                                                                                                                    DGXOW
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   12
                                                                                                                                                                                                               56
                                                                                                                                     his collector Albert Kindermann collected both forms in Beirut                      HJJ  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12
                                                                                                                                                                                                          lar v a
                                                                                                                                     between 1855-1857 but was doubted by Ellison (in Ellison and           pupa
                                                                                                                                     Wiltshire, 1939) that was “inclined to look with suspicion on
                                                                                                                                     Lederer’s records of f. dorippus Klug and f. alcippus F. from Beirut,                       2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2  6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
                                                                                                                                     as neither has been found in the Lebanon since. Either alone would
                                                                                                                                     pass muster (I have seen f.  alcippus from Cyprus), but it would
                                                                         Maniola telmessia  7 species, Palaearctic.                  weather system that arrived to the northern Israeli coast (Haifa bay)   f. ‘alcippoides’ Moore 1883  © Stav Talal
                                                                                                                                     have been a remarkable stroke of luck to capture both”. Similar
                                                                             Maniola Schrank, 1801
                                                                                                                                     “stroke of luck” that is called now-a-days an exceptional synoptic
                                                                                                                                     in early October 1969 resulted in the arrivals of ff dorippus (x1),
                                                                             4 species in the Levant.
                                                                                                                                     alcippus (x5), alcippoides (x3) and orientis (x3) beyond the normal
                                                                                                                                     dominant chrysippus - aegyptius that were collected and observed
                                                                             +RVWSODQWV  Poaceae.
                                                                                                                                     by DB in the southern Haifa bay between Bat-Galim, Haifa port
                                                                                                                                     and near the Kishon Estuary from 11 Oct. until 15 Nov. included
                                                                                                                                     fresh offspring of the first migrants. The forms composition of this
                                                                                                                                     Oct.–Nov./1969 JS/RST systems (Jet-Stream/Red-Sea Trough)
                                                                                                                                     that included relatively high % of white (alcippus/alcippoides)                             2  6 6 6 6 6
                                                                                                                                     ingredients compared with Aug.-Oct./2020 JS/RST (see f. dorippus
                                                                                                                                     below) that lack any white form and instead have nearly 50% of its
                                                                                                                                     forms in the dorippus/transiens/klugii easterly ingredients suggest
                                                                                                                                     that; the 10-11/1969 JS/RST system originated from a westerly C
                                                                                                                                     African origin compared with  8-10/2020  system that originated
                                                                                                                                     from E Africa – W Red Sea  shores origin – see Tables 1 & 2 and
                                                                         Melanargia titea  About 25 species, Palaearctic.            its correlation to appearance of rare African forms to the Levant   9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9  f. dorippus, Carmel Coast. N Israel  © Stav Talal
                                                                             Melanargia Meigen, 1828
                                                                                                                                     analysis of extreme weather systems in the East Mediterranean and
                                                                                                                                     (Benyamini et al. 2022, in prep.).  Similarly alcippus’ abundance
                                                                                                                                     decline eastwards of 13.6% in Dhofar’s chrysippus population and
                                                                             3 species in the Levant.
                                                                                                                                     0.6% in Northern Oman & Musandam points out the gradient from
                                                                             +RVWSODQWV  Poaceae.
                                                                                                                                     its origin in W Africa (Victor Higgins pers. comm.)
                                                                                                                                     -   +\EULGV RI  alcippus with other local  chrysippus forms; All the
                                                                                                                                     specimens of DB’s  experiments were bred from local wild queens
                                                                                                                                     collected by Ilan Ben-Yosef (Ma’agan Michael) for his Binyamina –
                                                                                                                                     Burj butterfly house:
                                                                                                                                     During September 2015 Ilan bred about 2000  chrysippus, 10
                                                                                                                                     (0.5%) specimens were alcippus;                                                                 ©  Dubi Benyamini
                                                                                                                                     -  f. alcippus ʆ ; f. chrysippus ʇ   UHVXOWHG LQ    DGXOWV
                                                                                                                                     chrysippus / aegyptius and one (7%) alcippoides.
                                                                                                                                     -  f. alcippus ʆ ; f. alcippus ʇ   WKLV H[SHULPHQW ZDV FDUULHG RXW RQ   Near Sharon’s Butterfly Nursary, 25 Nov. 2021
                                                                                                                                     Oct. 2015 – we got only ten adults: 9 (90%) were f. alcippus and
                                                                         Brintesia circe  Monotype, Palaearctic.                     on 21 & 25 Sept. and one alcippus male spent 10 days together in
                                                                             Brintesia Frühstorfer, 1911.
                                                                                                                                     one (10%) was f. chrysippus.
                                                                                                                                     -  f. pallidus ʆ ; f. alcippus ʇ   WZR pallidus females that hatched
                                                                                                                                     a breeding cage but did not mate.
                                                                             1 species in the Levant.
                                                                                                                                     - f. pallidus  Benyamini, 2015 is a very rare form, practically endemic
                                                                             +RVWSODQWV  Poaceae.
                                                                                                                                     to C Israel; found in and around Binyamina low lands and HaSharon
                                                                                                                                     Park in 0.1-0.01% of the local population (one in every 1000 to one
                                                                                                                                     every 10000 specimens) (DB, 2015c) - illustr. 4. The first “pallidus”
                                                                                                                                     (single male) was collected by the British Hymenopterist Kenneth
                                                                                                                                     Guichard in Eastern Oman in March-April 1976 and appeared as a
                                                                                                                                     “remarkable aberration” in a reprint from “The Scientific Results of
                                                                                                                                     the Oman Flora and Fauna Survey 1975” (Larsen, 1977). A similar                          © Moshe Laudon


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           2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   20                                             12/30/2021   4:20:31 PM  2Butterflies of the Levant danaidae satyridae.indd   29                                    12/30/2021   4:21:03 PM
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