Clossiana freija antipodes, Churkin & Yakovlev, 2024

Churkin, Sergei V. & Yakovlev, Roman V., 2024, Short review of Clossiana freija (Thunberg, 1791) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) from Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia with the description of two new subspecies, Ecologica Montenegrina 71, pp. 101-111 : 104-107

Clossiana freija antipodes ssp. nov.

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D454DB70-C032-470B-A104-1C028383DE31

Figures 1 (upperside) —2 (underside): 1, 2, 3.

Holotype: male, East Kazakhstan, Saur Mts., Tas Mt. , 2600-2850 m, 25- 30.06.2003, K. Dovgailo & N. Rubin leg. Paratypes: 4 males, 6 females, East Kazakhstan, Saur Mts., Tas Mt. , 2600−2850 m, 25- 30.06.2003, K. Dovgailo & N. Rubin leg. ; 1 male, 1 female, same loc., 2800 m, 21.06.− 3.07.2003, K. Dovgailo & N. Rubin leg.; 6 males, 1 female, East Kazakhstan, Saur Mts., Karagaily R. (upper stream), Shakpaktas Mt. , 2400−2700 m, 10- 15.06.2006, K. Dovgailo leg. ; 3 males, 2 females, same loc., N. Rubin & Yu. Sobolevskaya leg.; 2 males, 2 females, Eastern Kazakhstan, Saur Mts, Tas Mt. (northern slope), 47°16ʹN; 85°04ʹ, H- 2230‒2400 m, 21‒ 23.06.2018, R. Yakovlev, V. Doroshkin, V. Rudoj & A. Naydenov leg. ( RYB).

Description

Holotype FW length 19 mm, male paratypes 18−20 mm, female paratypes 18−20 mm. Antennae, palpi, body coloration and hairs seem to have no taxonomically valuable characters, but obviously darker than in other subspecies.

Male

Wings pale from above, dark brownish-reddish, with grey sputtering, black pattern not extended (corresponding to that of specimens from Sarym-Sakty Mts.). Fringe very narrow, not pronounced, slightly light between wide darkened portions at veins.

FW from upside basally dark, first spot in cell rounded, two next spots elongated, even rectangular. Spots of discal row fused into one broken line. Postdiscal series of black spots complete, spot 4 magnified. Series of light slightly extended spots along wing edge between triangular submarginal black spots and blackened wing edge.

HW from upside: basally and discally darkened, light triangular spot noticeable only in cell. Postdiscal band color – that of background, grey-brown, black spots as a rule reduced, usually only two small dark dots developed in cubital area.

FW from underside: pattern on upper part more or less pronounced, darkened.

HW from underside dim brown, darkened pattern narrowing, postdiscal band red-brown with light inner edge and light stroke cubitally, almost always without black spots.

Male genitalia. Uncus thickened, short, curve at its distal end poorly expressed (unlike in known subspecies), process on tip of valva with thickening and developed teeth, dorsal process of valva sharply extended with fan-like bundle of long hairs. Aedeagus of medium size.

Female

Wings noticeably wider, general coloring similar to that of male (dimmer color), black pattern statistically less developed (light spots at root of HW extended on upper side, band on underside of HW lighter).

Diagnosis

New subspecies is close to ssp. pallida (the reduced spots in the postdiscal band, the round discal spot on upper side of FW, the medium-sized aedeagus), but significantly darker, wherein the black pattern is not extended. The general darkening of color is not the result of a simple change in altitude – significantly more severe altitudes and harsh conditions are known for closely related subspecies. Moreover, in the adjacent territory of Altai there is a clear cline: butterflies become most brightly colored to the south of Southern Altai – in areas that were bordering on the range of the Saur subspecies during the Ice Age, when the inhabited zones were much lower and obviously adjacent.

The same picture is observed in Clossiana frigga , where the difference between the South Altai red C. f. famula Churkin et Tuzov, 2005 and Saur C. f. annae Suschkin, 1906 is even sharper than between the reddish form of pallida and the new subspecies. It should be noted that many high- and mid-mountain species of Papilionoidea on Saur are represented by endemic subspecies: P. phoebus sauricus Lukhtanov, 1999 , Pieris euorientis sauron Yakovlev, 2004 , Euphydryas iduna jacobsoni Yakovlev, 2011 , Mellicta menetriesi saurica Yakovlev, 2007 , Agriades glandon rubini Churkin, 2007 , Neolycaena submontana saurica Zhdanko, 1998 , Glaucopsyche argali arkhar Lukhtanov, 1990 ; in addition, there are a number of endemic species of Siberian kinship: Erebia haberhaueri Staudinger, 1881 , E. sibirica Staudinger, 1881 , Oeneis fulla (Eversmann, 1851) , O. mulla Staudinger, 1881 , Сupido tusovi Lukhtanov, 1994 ( Lukhtanov 1984, 1990, 1999; Yakovlev 2004, 2007, 2011; Churkin 2005a, b; Yakovlev & Guskova 2012; Rubin & Yakovlev 2013). All this indicates the long-term isolation of the Saur Mountains from the Altai-Sayan mountain region.

С. freija in Altai is a common background species – it can be assumed that contacts between the Altai and Saur populations were broken for a shorter period, unlike for C. frigga , which corresponds to a lower level of accumulated differences. However, the reverse cline is present, as are the differences in the male genitalia (the short and thick uncus, which requires confirmation). Considering the current isolation of the Saur macropopulation, the identification of the subspecies seems necessary.

Note that butterflies of the new subspecies do not appear in the known publications and are extremely rare in collections – only in the book of Toropov & Zhdanko (2015) the authors published the beautiful photographs of specimens from Chagan-Obo river (Saur, 2700 m), completely identical to those described here. We did not include these specimens in the type series because their state of preservation and actual location are unknown.

Distribution and biology

Saur Range, no data from Tarbagatai Mts. Stony tundra, flies together with Parnassius phoebus sauricus Lukhtanov, 1999 , Boloria altaica ssp., Euphidryas iduna jacobsoni Yakovlev, 2011, and Clossiana frigga annae ( Rubin & Yakovlev 2013) . Not numerous.

Etymology

Antipodes (from Greek) – feet facing each other, that is residents of opposite territories.

Figures

Figure 1. Clossiana freija, adult specimens (upperside): 1 – Clossiana freija antipodes ssp. nova, holotype, male, East Kazakhstan, Saur Mts., Tas Mt., 2600−2850 m, 25−30.06.2003, K. Dovgailo & N. Rubin leg.; 2 – C. f. antipodes ssp. nova, paratype, female, same data as 1; 3 – C. f. antipodes ssp. nova, paratype, male, East Kazakhstan, Saur Mts., Karagaily R. (upper stream), Shakpaktas Mt., 2400−2700 m, 10-15.06.2006, K. Dovgailo leg.; 4 – C. f. pallida, male, Russia, Altai, Kuraisky Mts., Kurai vic., 27.06.1995, A. Aniskovich leg.; 5 – C. f. pallida, female, same data as 4; 6 – C. f. pallida, male, Mongolia, Mongol Altai, SE edges, 30 km S Biger somon, 2700−3000 m, 20.06.2003, S. Churkin leg.; 7 – C. f. calais, male, Russia, Tuva, Khoromnug-Taiga, south.sl., Ukar-Khem r., 31.05.2010, S. Vaschenko leg.; 8 – C. f. calais, female, same data as 7; 9 – C. f. pallida, female, Kazakhstan, South Altai, Sarym-Sakty Mts., Sarym-Sakty r. (upp. stream), 2800-3000 m, 20-24.06.1998, S. Churkin leg.; 10 – Clossiana freija batchimeg ssp. nova, holotype, male, Mongolia, 30 km N Ulan-Bator, Sanzain am (valley), 21.05.2019, 1600-1700 m, T. Odbayar leg.; 11 – C. f. batchimeg ssp. nova, paratype, female, same data as 10; 12 – C. f.batchimeg ssp. nova, paratype, male, same data as 10; 13 – C. f. batchimeg ssp. nova, paratype, male, same data as 10; 14 – C. f. freija, male, Russia, Chita reg. [Zabaikalskyi Krai], North Transbaikalia, Kodar Mts., B. Leprindo Lake, 1100-1300 m, 21.07.2001, A. Aniskovich; 15 – C. f. freija, female, same data as 14.