LEPIDOPTERA
PAPILIONIDAE Latreille,1802
PAPILIO Lnnaeus, 1758
Papilio alexanor Esper, [1800]
Papilio alexanor orientalis Romanov, 1884
· RANGE. S. Europe, Asia Minor to Middle East, Middle Asia to Iran and Afghanistan.
· DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Variation relatively little, nevertheless the following subspecies have been described: ssp. orientalis Romanov, 1884 - the Armenian Highland; ssp. hazarajatica Wyatt, 1961 - Kopet-Dagh, S. Ghissar; ssp. judeus Staudinger, 1893 (= maccabeus Staudinger, 1891, nom. praeoccup.) - Ghissar, Alai, ssp. voldemar Kreuzberg, 1989 - W. Tian-Shan.
· HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Stony mountain slopes supporting thin xerophytic vegetation, up to 2,700 m a.s.l. Flight period: May-July. Host plants: various Apiaceae (Falcaria vulgaris, Sesea libanotis, Tanas heterophylla., Ferula karategina, F. ugamica, etc.).
Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997
© "Russian insects"
