Genus Aricia, boundaries of agestis and artaxerxes species

Exactly. Like aglaja, say.

For accuracy.
Aglaya is spread even on yaylakh is incomparably wider. In addition, it is found (but noticeably less numerous) on the northern and southern macroslopes, and even in the northern foothills (for example, near Simferopol). As for chervonets, I have observed it exclusively at altitudes of 800 - 1200 m. The perfectly "Yaylin" picture of its distribution is currently broken only by one oral report known to me about the recent discovery of a male near the village of Perevalnoye (~450m).

Maybe I missed something, what is the conclusion, so to speak, summary.

"At the moment, the perfectly" Yailinsky " picture of its distribution is violated only by one oral report known to me about the recent discovery of a male near the village of Perevalnoye (~450m)."

For "okoem" - a:
In this (2009) year I was at the same place twice – I didn't meet any other individuals. Apparently, you were right – "the copy got lost and flew off the Subothan". By the way, if there is any time (if you will be without much employment in Perevalny on any weekend), I can show you the very place. At the same time, you can measure the exact height. It is not far from the Eagle Gorge, 20-25 minutes from the highway. In the meantime, I'm posting a photo of that very instance. Unfortunately, I must admit, the photo is staged. The find seemed very unusual to me then, so (in order not to risk it) I first caught the butterfly, froze a little and only then took a picture and pinned it... I think the" starvation " is felt in the butterfly pose.

This post was edited by palvasru4ko - 26.10.2009 22: 42

Pictures:

P1040489.JPG — (337.77к)

It will be good! When you're done, announce the results.

Yeah... with some delay, I announce the results:
In the coming season, mass reproduction of agestis was observed in the steppe Crimea. Dozens of people flew into the field from under their feet. However, I did not notice a single specimen with reduced red holes. But here on the underside are occasionally somewhat similar to allous. In addition, the background of the first-generation underwear is gray. And subsequent generations-brownish. But the wings are always rounded and the red holes are always more or less well developed.
Total: in the steppe Crimea, the "allous" phenotype is absent.

As for the actual spread butterflies, it was not possible to compare correctly due to the lack of a series from any one point in the mountainous Crimea. The available single collections from different locations do not give an idea of the real range of variability of the allous, because there is no certainty that butterflies with mixed characteristics (close to the agestis phenotype) are allous.
In general. you need to wait for a case when you can observe more or less numerous allous years (or let's just say-years of aryces with the presence of the "allous" phenotype) and collect a series.

This post was edited by okoem - 10/26/2009 23: 42

Something tells me that we won't get a clear answer anyway... Nature is more complex than the framework in which we seek to drive it.

In the forest-steppe of the Penza region (Middle Volga region) as you probably remember from geography, there are various biotopes: from relict fragments of the real steppe to boreal "blind corners". ALL researchers who have visited us or seen our material can confirm that such large copies of diaries that are often found here, in other places still need to be searched ("what do you drink them with beer...").
So, a few years ago, I was absolutely sure that A. artaxerxes F. is a purely forest species. But, in recent years, when I began to catch everything under the "comb" (in the name of science, of course), I was surprised to find this species in settled places. These "steppes" are much smaller than "foresters" and at first I even thought it might be a different species (after reviewing my material, Boris confirmed that this is still artaxerekh). That is," on the face " of two ecological forms, which, in addition to the obviously different k. r. g., are also biotopically bred... Do these "giants" and "dwarfs" come into contact in the "buffer" zone is another question ?
A. agestis D/S. In our country, it lives in open meadow communities (quite rare, two generations, variable), and penetrates forests through meadows.
In general, our classic A. A. Yakhontov was still interested in these questions in his works - read it interestingly.

after reviewing my material Boris confirmed that this is still artaxerekh

Maybe I'm the only one who's so stupid and doesn't understand anything? Let's go back to posts 23, 24, 25 in this thread. So, there is no genetic border, genitals do not differ, external signs are unreliable. Then on the basis of what conclusions are drawn that "this is still artaxerekh"?

I would also like to clarify: does Artaxerxes produce one generation in the Penza Region? Do the Artaxerxes and agestis imagos fly together (or is there a clear border on biotopes)? If so, is it synchronous?

In general, our classic A. A. Yakhontov was still interested in these questions in his works - read it interestingly.

Can you give us any links?

Some information about artaxerxes and agestis:
this year I grew both artaxerxes and agestis from eggs. So, at least, according to the phenotypes of adults. They fly sympatrically: Rostov region, Azov district, swamp on the bank of the Kagalnik River. However, there is a time shift - the second generation of artaxerxes in August-September, the third generation of agestis in October. Both on geraniums. I grew three caterpillars each. Moreover, some of the caterpillars did not fall into hibernation, some had to be cooled in the refrigerator for three weeks - at the second age, because they "fell asleep" and only after the third warming began to eat. In both groups, four or five ages passed (without reference to phenotypic affiliation or hibernation).
Outwardly, they differ somewhat, but only slightly.
The top row is artaxerxes, the bottom row is agestis.

This post was edited by bora - 12/11/2009 05: 16

Pictures:

artaxerxes_agestis.jpg — (92.81к)

I had to cool it in the refrigerator for three weeks - at the second age, because they "fell asleep" and only after the third warming up began to eat.

And how long was it cooled? What's the temperature?

Three weekly cycles at +2...+4 with "thawing" for two days between cooling to +25...+28. The last time I raised the temperature to +35, the caterpillars decreased by one and a half times, but began to feed and grow. Before that, I could not get out of the winter diapause, I tried many options - this one was a success.