Neolycaena (Rhymnaria) kozlovi namkhaidorji Churkin, 2004

Krupitsky, Anatoly V., 2021, Taxonomy of the Neolycaena (Rhymnaria) davidi (Oberthür, 1881) species group with the description of two new taxa from Russia and China (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae), Zootaxa 4966 (5), pp. 501-518 : 504-506

Neolycaena (Rhymnaria) kozlovi namkhaidorji Churkin, 2004 , comb. nov.

(Figs. 4, 5, 17, 26, 29, 37)

N. (R.) davidi namkhaidorji— Churkin 2004: 182; Weidenhoffer et al. 2004: 72; Yakovlev 2012: 65; Weidenhoffer et al. 2016: 74.

Material. Holotype ♂ (photo examined), SW Mongolia, Govi-Altai aimak, Onder Ulaan Uul Mts., 30 km SE Biger vill., N 45°30’57” E 97°29’20”, 1900–2000 m, 26.VI.2002, S. Churkin leg. ( DSMM); paratypes: 16 ♂ (2 dissected), 7 ♀ (2 dissected), same locality, S. Churkin, V. Pletnev & S. Chastilov leg. ( SChR); 2 ♀, Southern Mongolia, Govi-Altai aimak, 45 km SE Biger vill., 1950–2050 m, 27.VI.2002, S. Churkin leg. ( SChR); 1 ♀ (dissected), Southern Mongolia , Govi-Altai aimak, 35 km E Biger vill., Khurkhre, N 45°39’ E 97°35’, 1450 m, 26.VI.2002, S. Churkin leg. ( SChR); non-type specimens: 2 ♂ (1 dissected), Southern Mongolia , Govi-Altai aimak, 30 km W Tzogt vill., 1800–1900 m, N 45°20’36” E 96°16’22”, S. Churkin leg. ( SChR); 2 ♂ (dissected), Southern Mongolia , Govi-Altai aimak, Darviin Nuruu (northern slope), 1750 m, 09.VII.2003, S. Churkin leg. ( SChR).

Diagnosis. The taxon was originally described as a subspecies of N. (R.) davidi from the Mongolian Altai Mountains in southwestern Mongolia (Govi-Altai Aimag, 35 km SE Biger somon). The male and female genitalia of namkhaidorji share all the characters of the nominotypical N. (R.) kozlovi (figs. 27, 31), so we treat this taxon as a subspecies of the latter, N. (R.) kozlovi namkhaidorji Churkin, 2004, comb. nov. It can be distinguished from the nominotypical subspecies by the paler ventral side of the hindwing and the reduced submarginal orange pattern. From the new subspecies of N. (R.) davidi from the Tannuola Mountains, with which it has been mixed up earlier, namkhaidorji differs in the morphology of the male and female genitalia, pale anal tuft of the female abdomen and details of the colouration of the wings (see the diagnosis of the new subspecies below).

Distribution and biology. N. (R.) kozlovi namkhaidorji is endemic to the southeastern Mongolian Altai Mountains. The host plants reported in the literature are Caragana bungei and C. korshinskyi ( Churkin 2004) . The flight period is from the end of June to the middle of July, depending on the weather conditions and locality.