Melitaea baikalensis Bremer, 1861

Churkin, Sergei V., Yakovlev, Roman V. & Lvovsky, Alexandr L., 2022, Lectotypes of Erebia kefersteinii (Eversmann, 1851), Clossiana selenis (Eversmann, 1837), Melitaea arcesia Bremer, 1861 and holotype of Melitaea baikalensis Bremer, 1861 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Ecologica Montenegrina 55, pp. 17-25 : 22-24

Melitaea baikalensis Bremer, 1861

Melanges biol. Acad. Sci. St.-Petersbourg, 1861, 3: 465

Originally published as “ Melitaea baikalensis “

Type locality after Bremer: “...Nordseite des Baikal...”

The taxon was described basing on one specimen only, which is only the bright and big specimen of M. arcesia . The detailed description was done in 1864 in “Lepidopteren Ost-Sibiriens…”, where the figure of the type was published. This book includes numerous mistakes and misprints. The number of the figure is again wrong (5 in the legend of the Plate 1 instead of the correctly printed 6 in the description). But more important, the wrongly printed name of the taxon was given as baicalensis both in the text and on the plate. This name became common, even Higgins used it ( Higgins 1981). Bremer used in both his large publications Baikal but not Baical. Thus, we have a deal with a misprint, which has been widely distributed after Higgins by many careless authors.

Thus, the correct variant is Melitaea baikalensis according to the original description.

Holotype by monotypy ( Figs 31–33 ): male, forewing length 22 mm, 5 labels:

- small golden circle;

- small rectangular paper with printed number “42”;

- handwritten rectangular label “Bremer 42”;

- printed label "coll. Acad. Petrop.";

- rectangular label with dark reddish irregular colour “Baikal/Radde”.

The figure in the Bremer’s book ( Fig. 1 : 6) is stylized but there are no doubts with the identity of the specimen, that is confirmed by the labels.

The specimen has only one (left) antenna, being fresh and bright with several cracks on the forewings.

We added the red labels: “ HOLOTYPUS / Melitaea baikalensis / Bremer, 1861 / S.CHURKIN et al. des.“

Type locality. As he marked in his diary, Radde collected first insects at Baikal in Olkhon Island 28–29 of June 1855. On the July 3 he reported remarkable Melitaea species collected in the “forests that dressed the mountains of the island” ( Radde 1861: 9). No doubts that he was impressed with this big fire-coloured specimen definitely different from all Melitaea which he collected in his life before – and it was the first definitely new taxon collected in his travel. Of course, later he was not so intense with other butterflies because he collected more and more interesting animals including new Mammalia.

We suppose that exactly this first impression was the base of Bremer’s mistake, who was influenced by Radde receiving his material for study.

The type locality is Olkhon Island, Baikal Lake, Irkutsk region, Russia, 53°09′ N, 107°24′ E .

Status and notes. The presence of two “different ” arcesia -like butterflies in one area was the base of numerous problems. The efforts to make name baikalensis (using the variant baicalensis!) valid again as the species name ( Korshunov & Gorbunov 1995) is correctly considered by P. Gorbunov (2001: 174), who based on the rule of the first reviser ( ICZN, 24.2.1).

After the present lectotype designation the name baikalensis Bremer, 1861 is valid and could be applied to arcesia -populations from northern Baikal.

M. arcesia is common but local butterfly which is very variable. Without any doubts, all populations from southern Baikal (the Khamar-Daban Mts.) to Khabarovsk and Primorie belong to nominate subspecies. Small and yellowish butterflies from the Altai, the South Altai, the West Sayan and Tuva belong to ssp. minor Elwes, 1899 (some southern populations are more colourful with contrasting nice females, but it has no sense to use separate name for it). The intermediate populations living between two marked above large areas (the East Sayan, the Khangai, North Baikal and western part of North Transbaikalia) are maximally variable in size and colour. Their status needs in clarification. Very light ssp. dea Churkin & Kolesnichenko, 2003 is distributed in South Mongolia (Mongolian and partly Gobi Altai).

Figures

Figure 22−33. Melitaea, adult specimens and labels: 22. M. arcesia, lectotype, female, upperside (ZISP); 23. M. arcesia, lectotype, female, underside (ZISP); 24. M. arcesia, lectotype, labels; 25. M. arcesia, paralectotype, female, upperside (ZISP); 26. M. arcesia, paralectotype, female, underside (ZISP); 27. M. arcesia, paralectotype, labels; 28. M. arcesia, paralectotype, male, upperside (ZISP); 29. M. arcesia, paralectotype, male, underside (ZISP); 30. M. arcesia, paralectotype, labels; 31. M. baikalensis, holotype, male, upperside (ZISP); 32. M. baikalensis, holotype, male, underside (ZISP); 33. M. baikalensis, holotype, labels.

Figures 1−15. Erebia kefersteinii Eversmann, 1851, adult specimens and labels: 1. E. kefersteinii, lectotype, female, upperside (ZISP); 2. E. kefersteinii, lectotype, female, underside (ZISP); 3. E. kefersteinii, lectotype, labels; 4. E. kefersteinii, paralectotype, female, upperside (ZISP); 5. E. kefersteinii, paralectotype, female, underside (ZISP); 6. E. kefersteinii, paralectotype, labels; 7. E. kefersteinii, male, Kultuk village, road to Khamar-Daban, upperside (ZISP); 8. E. kefersteinii, male, labels; 9. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, male, upperside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 10. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, male, underside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 11. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, female, upperside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 12. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, female, underside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 13. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, female, upperside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 14. E. kefersteinii amika, paratype, female, underside (coll. S. Churkin, Reutov); 15. E. kefersteinii amika, labels.