Page 11 - PARPAR-2
P. 11

7KH :LGHU /HYDQW DQG LWV %XWWHUÁLHV



           The Levant is defined as the eastern Mediterranean      1LQH FRXQWULHV UHJLRQV LQ WKH ZLGHU /HYDQW
           coastal strip, ca. 200 km wide, from the southern   ‡  Turkey  south  of  ~parallel  (lat.)  37º30'N  (S
 #
           slopes of the Taurus Mountains (Turkey) to the Isthmus   .DKUDPDQPDUDû    LQFOXGLQJ   (  0HUVLQ   6  $GDQD   6
           of Suez (the Suez Canal between the Sinai Peninsula   Osmaniye, S Gaziantep and the entire Provinces of Kilis
           and mainland Egypt). Located in Western Asia, in one of   and Hatay, an area of about 30,000 sq. km., harbouring
           the oldest regions of mankind, it lies at the crossroads   169 species of butterflies, or nearly 50% of the butterfly
           of three continents: Asia, Africa and the Palaearctic   IDXQD  RI  7XUNH\   %D\WDû          DQG         RI  /HYDQW·V
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 1 - B | 21-12-30 | 11:34:47 | SR:-- | Magenta
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 1 - B | 21-12-30 | 11:34:47 | SR:-- | Yellow
 #21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 1 - B | 21-12-30 | 11:34:47 | SR:-- | Black
 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR - 21603-BRACHA-PARPAR | 1 - B | 21-12-30 | 11:34:47 | SR:-- | Cyan
           (Old World) Region. It is the only existing active land-  butterflies.
           bridge between the Afrotropical and the Palaearctic   ‡  Most of Syria (~90%) east to longitude 40ºE near Deir
           Regions, where the butterfly fauna is amplified by   ez-Zor. In this vast desert area of 185,180 sq. km, 166
           migration along the north-south Rift Valley, beginning   species of butterfly or 64.6% of the Levant's butterflies
           in the valleys and lakes of Mozambique, proceeding   may be found.
           northwards through Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and   ‡  Lebanon, with an area of 10,400 sq. km and 148 species,
           Ethiopia, then continuing along the Red Sea to the   includes 57.6% of Levant's butterflies.
           Arava, Dead Sea Valley, Jordan Valley and the Syrian-  ‡  Israel, 22,145 sq. km, 153 species, 59.5%.
           Lebanese Beqaa Valley, some 6400 km away. Together   ‡  Jordan, 89,342 sq. km, 93 species, 36.2%.
           with  Cyprus,  we  include  in  this  series  of  books  nine                 ‡  The Sinai Peninsula, 60,000 sq. km, 48 species
           countries/regions in the wider Levant.            (Benyamini, 1984), 18.7%.
                                                           ‡  Egypt south to parallel 21º40'N at its border with Sudan,
                                                             941,450 sq. km, 63 species, 24.5%. The addition of
           Table 2 below, shows the number of species for every   nine new species represents an increase of 17% to the
           family. Lycaenidae, with 87 species, is the largest   Egyptian fauna (Gilbert & Zalat, 2007; Benyamini &
           family with 33.9% of the Levant's butterflies, then the   Müller, 2020).
           Nymphalidae (including Satyrinae) with 80 species   ‡  NW Saudi Arabia, Coastal Hejaz north of Yanbu (parallel
           (31.1%), the Pieridae 44 (17.1%) and the Hesperiidae   24°N), ca. 7000 sq. km, 59 species, 22.9% of the Levant's
           36 (14%). The Papilionidae is the smallest family with   butterflies, but adding about 78.8% more butterflies
           10 species, or just 3.9% of the Levant's butterflies.   to NW Hejaz (33 species in Larsen, 1984; updating
           These numbers may change significantly if climate   Benyamini & Müller, 2020 by adding nine species that fly
           change continues, bringing with it tropical storms from   in Eilat, S Israel [a few km only from N Hejaz border] or in
           the south. The Levant, especially its southern areas,   nearby areas).
           is located in an active ecotone where the gradients of   ‡  Cyprus, 9251 sq. km, 54 species, 21% of the Levant's
           change in butterfly diversity and richness are very high.     butterflies.






                               Papilionidae         Pieridae     Nymphalidae    Lycaenidae  Hesperiidae     Libytheinae     Danainae  Charaxinae  Satyrinae  Heliconiinae  Limenitidinae      Biblidinae   Nymphalinae




            Country                            Totals  Country                                           Totals
            Cyprus            3 10 20 17 4  54        Cyprus            1   2   1   12  2   1       3  22

            Egypt & Sinai     2 20 13 27 12  74       Egypt & Sinai         1   1   3           2   6  13
            Israel & Mt Hermon  9 27  43 51 24 153    Israel & Mt Hermon    1   1   18  3   1      20  43

            Jordan            5 21 25 26 16  93       Jordan                1   1   10      1      12  25
            Lebanon           8 24 42 52 22 148       Lebanon               1   1   18  3   1      17   41

            NW Saudi Arabia (Hejaz)  2 19 14 19 5  59    NW Saudi Arabia (Hejaz)  1  1  3       2   7  14
            Syria             9 34 48 51 24 166       Syria             1   1   1   22  4   1      19  48

 ©  Samir Hamza  7DEOH    &RPSRVLWLRQ RI EXWWHUÁ\ VSHFLHV LQ FRXQWULHV RI WKH /HYDQW DQG    Totals  Table 3: No of Species of Nymphalidae’ subs-familes in countries of the wider Levant.   80
                              9 24 61 53 24 169
                                                      Turkey  (areas as above)
            Turkey  (areas as above)
                                                                                1
                                                                            1
                                                                                    34
                                                                                            1
                                                                                        8
                                                                                                       61
                                                                                                   15
            Totals
                             10 44 80 87 36 257
                                                                                                2
                                                                                                   21
                                                                                            1
                                                                                        8
                                                                            2
                                                                        1
                                                                                    42
                                                                                2
                          the wider regions discussed in Vols. I – IV ; The Nymphalidae
 6                        family is highlighted.                                                               11
   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16