On the occurrence of Eastern knapweed fritillary, Melitaea ornata (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Croatia

2013·1.8 MB·English

by  Toni Koren

On the occurrence of Eastern knapweed fritillary, Melitaea ornata
(Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Croatia
ToniKoren&AnaStih
Abstract. TheoccurrenceofMelitaeaornataChristoph, 1893 isconfirmedforCroatia.Thespecieswas recorded insix
localitiesindifferentregionsofthecountry.Allrecordsoriginatefrommountainareasorareaswithstrongmountaininfluence.
Also,allspecimenswererecordedinMay,whichindicatestheunivoltismofthisspecies.
Samenvatting.OverhetvoorkomenvanMelitaeaornata(Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae)inKroatië
MelitaeaornataChristoph,1893wordthiervoorheteerstuitKroatiëvermeld.Desoortwerdervastgesteldinzeslokaliteiten,
vooraluitbergstrekenofuitgebiedendichtbijbergen.Alleexemplarenwerdeninmeiwaargenomen,watduidtopslechtséén
generatieperjaar.
Résumé.DelaprésencedeMelitaeaornata(Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae)enCroatie
MelitaeaornataChristoph,1893estmentionnéeicipourlapremièrefoisdeCroatie.L'espèceaététrouvéedanssixlocalités
danscepays,dansdesmontagnesoudesrégionsmontagneuses.Touslesexemplairesontététrouvésenmai,cequiindique
l'univoltinismedecetteespèce.
Keywords:Melitaeaornata-Croatia-distribution-newrecords.
KorenT.:UniversityofPrimorska,ScienceandResearchCentre,InstituteforBiodiversityStudies,SI-6310Izola,GiordanaBruna
6,Slovenia,E-mail:[email protected]
StihA.:CroatianHerpetologicalSociety-Hyla,PrvaBreznicka5a,10000Zagreb,Croatia.
Introduction 2012). Among the subspecies which were attributed to
M.ornataisalsoMelitaeaphoebenigrogyiaVerity,1938
The genus Melitaea comprises ofabout 65 small to describedfromOpatija(Croatia) butonlyonthebaseof
mediumsized butterflyspeciesdistributedwidelyacross the literature description of the species (Tóth & Varga
thePalearcticregion (Leneveuetal.2009). In Europe15 2010). The presence of M. ornata in Croatia was also
species ofthe genus Melitaea occur (Van Swaay et al. shown in the recent paper dealing with the current
2010), of which eight are present in Croatia (Sasic & distribution (Tóth et al. 2012). In the paper, there are
Mihoci 2011). In most cases, the European threepointsonthemapshowingtheterritoryofCroatia,
representativesofthisgenushaveclearlyvisibleexternal but its presencethere was not addressed, and it is not
morphological characteristics and they can be easily known ifthepointsoriginatefromtheliteratureorthey
distinguished from each other (Tolman & Lewington represent new records (Tóth et al. 2012). Also, this
2008).However,forsomespeciescomplexes,likethatof species was not listed in the recent checklist of
Melitaea athalia (Rottemburg, 1775), Melitaea aurelia butterflies ofCroatia (Sasic & Mihoci 2011). The aim of
(2N0i0c8k)erl, 1850)andMelitaeabritomartisAssmann, 1847, this paperisto reportthe new record ofM. ornatafor
an analysis of the genitalia is crucial for a correct theterritoryofCroatia,andconfirmitsoccurrenceinthe
Identification(Koren&Jugovic2012). country.
Another problematic species complex of the same
genusisthatofMelitaeaphoebe(Denis&Schiffermüller, Materialsandmethods
1775). The nominate species, M. phoebe, is distributed
fromNorthAfrica,acrossEurope,Turkey,andtheMiddle Duringthe year 2012 we did an intensive survey of
Easttowards Mongolia and China (Tolman & Lewington thebutterflyfaunaofCroatia. Duringthatperiodspecial
.Recently,manysubspeciesofthisM.phoebefrom attention wasgiven tothe M. phoebespecies complex.
Europe and Asia were recognized as separate species, Thespecimenswerecollectedwithanentomologicalnet
according to their common ecological characteristics, and stored in a private butterfly collection (Koren in
i2n0c0l9u)ding their univoltism, the red head capsule of L4 Pazin, Croatia). Foreach specimen basicdata aboutthe
larvaeandthe preferencetoCirsiumorCentaureahost- habitat were noted, as well as the geographic
plants (Tóth & Varga 2010). At first, some subspecies coordinates. Coordinates were taken using a Garmin e-
wereassignedtoMelitaeatelonaFruhstorfer,1908(Tóth TrexVista device. Additionally, specimensfrom thefirst
&Varga2010),whichlaterprovedtobeconspecificwith author's collection, collected between the years 2002-
Melitaea ornata Christoph, 1893, which is now the 2011,wereincludedintheanalysis.Thedeterminationof
accepted name(Jaksic2011,Tóth&Varga2011,Tóthet the collected specimens was done using the
al. 2013). The species status was proven by genital determination keypresented inTóth &Varga (2011).To
morphometry (Tóth & Varga 2011) and on the basis of confirm the correct determination, genital slides were
mitochondrial and two nuclear genes (Leneveu et al. preparedusingtheStandardpreparationmethod,similar
. The current knowledge aboutthe distribution of to that given byTóth & Varga (2011). The abdomen of
this species includes the Southern part of the Italian freshspecimenswascut,andleftovernightina10%KOH
peninsula, the Balkans, Hungary, Greece, Turkey and solution.Afterthatthegenitaliawerecleaned, mounted
localized records in parts of western Asia (Tóth et al. inEuparalandphotographed.
ISSN0771-5277 Phegea41(3)01.ix.2013:63
Resultsanddiscussion 3. 1200mEfromGorjaniSutinski,Mt.Strahinscica,
wetmeadow,46.180250,15.964833,20.V.2012.
From all collected specimensonlysixindividuals had 4. Vugrovec, Mt. Medvednica, wet meadow,
the external characteristics according to which they 45.874578,16.108326,24.V.2010.
could be identified asM. ornata. Localities in whichthe 5. Zrmanja Vrelo, Zrmanja river, wet meadows 1
specimenswerecollected areshown in Fig. 1and listed km south from the river spring, 44.203035, 16.070720,
here: l.v.2012.
1. Mt.Ucka,VelaUcka,Istria,drykarsticgrassland, 6. RoadtowardvillageVelji Do, Mt.Snijeznica,dry
45.305554,14.205031,30.V.2002. karsticgrassland,42.550942,18.354265,2.V.2012.
2. Gorjani Sutinski, nearthe church Sv.Jakob, Mt.
Strahinscica, wet meadow, 46.177722, 15.947750,
20.v.2012.
Fig.1.DistributionofM.
ornatainCroatia.
1.Mt.Ucka,VelaUcka,
2.GorjaniSutinski,nearthe
churchSv.Jakob,Mt.
Strahinscica,
3.1200mEfromGorjani
Sutinski,Mt.Strahinscica,
4.Vugrovec,Mt.Medvednica,
5.ZrmanjaVrelo,wet
meadows1kmsouthfromthe
riverspring,
6.RoadtowardsvillageVelji
Do,Mt.Snijeznica.
Thereareseveralexternalcharacteristiconwhichitis phoebewere observed and collected, which showsthat
possible to distinguish adults of M. ornata from M. thesetwosimilarspeciesaresympatricinthearea.
phoebe (Fig. 2): the triangular shaped lunules on the
undersideofthefore-wing;thedisconnected,triangular Ecology
shaped lunules inthe marginal region ofthe hind-wing;
the broader and elliptic antennal club (Tóth & Varga All specimens were collected in May, which is in
2011). The most important difference between male agreementwiththe univoltineappearanceofM. ornata
genitaliaofM.phoebeandM.ornataisthedepthofthe incomparisonwithM.phoebe(Tóth&Varga2010). Five
central notch ofthesaccusin M. ornata(Fig. 3),aswell records were recorded in a mountain zone (Mt. Ucka,
asthemoresymmetrieshapeoftheposteriorprocesses Mt. Medvednica, Mt. Strahinscica and Mt. Snijeznica),
(Tóth & Varga 2010). With all these in mind we can while the record from Zrmanja Vrelo can also be
conclude that the collected specimens belong to M. considered assuch.Thearea ofZrmanja springisunder
ornata rather than M. phoebe. Three specimens an interesting climatic inversion, which allows some
collected in the year 2012, as well as three specimens butterflies species, which are usually present on higher
from the private collection, were determined as M. altitudes, to live there (Koren et al. 2011). All the
ornata. In the same localities more specimens of M. specimens, except the ones from Mt. Ucka and Mt.
Snijeznicawerecollectedinwetmeadows.
Phegea41(3)01.ix.2013:64 ISSN0771-5277
Fig.2.M.ornataChristoph;
1893fromMt.Strahinscica,
Croatia.
Fig.3.Malegenitaliaof
MelitaeaornataChristoph,
1893fromMt.Strahinscica,
Croatia.
ISSN0771-5277 Phegea41(3)01.ix.2013:65
DistributioninCroatia ourrecordsarethefirstexactfindingsofthisspeciesin
Croatia.
Our data show that M. ornata is present in almost Conclusions
wholeCroatia. Recordsoriginatefrom Istria,toward Mt.
Medvednica and northern Croatia. The record from Thedistribution ofthe Eastern knapweedfritillaryin
Zrmanja lies on the border between Lika and Dalmatia, Croatia isstillfarfrom known. Ourrecordsindicatethat
while the record from Mt. Snijeznica belongs to the thespeciesispresentinthewholecountry,butprobably
Southern Dalmatia. The occurrence of this species in is more common in the mountainous areas. More
Croatia was previously noted only on the distribution records of this species in Croatia, as well as in
map in Tóth et al. (2013) but without any mention of neighbouring areas are to be expected in the future.
theirorigin,orwithanyexactlocality.Inthelightofthat. With this record, the butterflyfauna ofCroatia consists
of196species(Sasic&Mihoci2012).
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