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Pseudochazara anthelea [Hübner, 1824] White-Banded Rockbrown

A species of higher altitudes, usually found above 1000
m. Flight is rapid, with frequent pauses to alight on
rocks in open, mountainous areas. P. anthelea shows
marked sexual dimorphism; the upperside ground
# © Christodoulos Makris © Dubi Benyamini © Dubi Benyamini
© Christodoulos Makris
colour of the smaller male is dark brown, verging on
black, relieved by a wide white postdiscal band on DGXOW
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the fore- and hindwings. Male forewing underside HJJ 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
lar v a
pupa
ground colour is white with two prominent ocelli,
visible also on the upperside. The female’s upperside
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 7 - A | 21-12-30 | 11:34:48 | SR:-- | Magenta
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 7 - A | 21-12-30 | 11:34:48 | SR:-- | Yellow
ground colour is brown, with a wide post-discal band
#21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 7 - A | 21-12-30 | 11:34:48 | SR:-- | Black
21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 7 - A | 21-12-30 | 11:34:48 | SR:-- | Cyan
of orange on the forewing; within this band are two © Dubi Benyamini © Dubi Benyamini
large ocelli, visible also on the underside. Forewing
underside markings are similar to the male, but with DGXOW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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ground colour orange. Hindwing underside is mottled lar v a
pupa
grey/brown. Males eclosed usually few days before the
female (Hesselbarth et al., 1995(2): 961). Males are
territorial and often found on steep rocky slopes - in
Cyprus usually above 1000 m (Wakeham-Dawson et © Martin Gascoigne-Pees
al., 2003). Overlaps with the similarly marked (female Subterranean pupal chamber
only) P. telephassa in the Hatay region of S Turkey –
see below. The females (and possibly males) aestivate Ļ
during the summer months and resume activity for egg
laying in autumn. In courting the male land next to the
female, position itself in front of her, open and tilt its
wings toward the female, go around the female trying to © Dubi Benyamini © Dubi Benyamini
excess her genitalia, the female remained motionless
with her abdomen hide between her close wings. After
several minutes the male gave up and flew away (DB
pers. obs.). In Cyprus adult's preferred nectar sources Ļ last larval
are the purple flowers of Centaurea aegilophila and exuviae
Ptilostemon chamaepeuce (Asteraceae) (Makris
2003: 250 & pers. comm. to DB). In S Turkey anthelea
ZDV UHFRUGHG RQO\ RQFH LQ ùVNHQGHUXQ +DWD\ $WDKDQ
et al., 2018: 83, and pers. comm.). Possibly extinct in
Lebanon since its sole record by Lederer near Beirut
(1857). Ļ © Dubi Benyamini
© Dubi Benyamini Subterranean pupal chamber © Dubi Benyamini
%LRORJ\
)OLJKW SHULRG April to September, 250 to 1900 m in
Cyprus (Makris 2003: 250). The single record from S.
Turkey is from May at 1400 m (Atahan et al., 2018:
83).
© Eddie John
/LIH KLVWRU\ univoltine. Laid egg is white, barrel
shape, 1 mm high and 0.5-0.6 mm max diam. with 20- 'LVWULEXWLRQ
27 vertical ribs. Emerging L1 consumes the egg shell,
is 1.5-2 mm long, light brown with darker brown dots TL: Asia Minor. Ranges across Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria,
along the body and head. Single known L5 was found Greece, Turkey (rare in Hatay), Cyprus (absent from other © David Jutzeler © David Jutzeler
under a stone and photographed by Wolfgang Wagner countries of the Levant) and N Iraq. Rebel (1916) described
in Ida Mt., C Crete, ~30 Km SW Heraklion; chunky ca the Cyprus P. anthelea as ‘Satyrus anthelea (Hb.) acamanthis
26-28 mm long larva is greyish-brown with longitudinal N subsp.’ Van Oorschot et al., (1987) reluctantly designated
whitish broad strips along all its body, mid-dorsal and a lectotype for P. anthelea acamanthis, accepting some
side darker broken lines and sub-dorsal line of arches, of the distinguishing morphological characters noted
the short tail is off-white (illust.). Overwintering in the by Rebel, but the ssp. status was questioned by Olivier
larval stage. The pupa is 15-16 mm long and 6-6.5 mm (1996), who synonymised P. anthelea acamanthis with P.
wide, is radish-brown, smooth and resembles that of anthelea anthelea. Subsequent work by Wakeham-Dawson
P. pelopea – illust. The adult eclosed after 3-4 weeks. et al., (2003) supported Olivier’s view, but proposed
(Wolfgang Wagner & Marios Aristophanous pers. further investigation. Here, with the subspecific status of P.
comms. to DB). anthelea acamanthis at best only weakly defined, we follow
Olivier and Wakeham-Dawson et al., (op. cit.) and lump the
5HFRUGHG KRVWSODQWV Poaceae (Gramineae) spp. Cyprus taxon with the nominotypical subspecies. © Dubi Benyamini © David Jutzeler © David Jutzeler
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