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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
56
567
567
DGXOW
56
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
his collector Albert Kindermann collected both forms in Beirut HJJ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 1 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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