On geographic variation of Erebia euryale (Esper, [1805]) (Lepidoptera, Satyridae) in the north of European Russia

Abstract

The geographic variation of external characters of the satyrid Erebia euryale (Esper, [1805]), distributed in the north of European Russia, was analyzed. One subspecies, E. euryale euryaloides Tengstrom, 1869, was shown to inhabit the northern Russian Plain and the Urals. The subspecies is characterized by a gradual decrease in body size and reduction of the wing pattern in adults towards the north and a distinct geographic segregation of the plain and mountain populations into two races by the color of the postdiscal band in females. The plain populations, in which females have silver-white bands, are referred to as the “taiga” race, and the Ural populations with golden-yellow bands, as the “flaveoides” race, according to the names of the subspecific taxa previously described. A probable historical scenario of the distribution of E. euryale and the origin of geographic isolation of its races are considered.