Apatura iris ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Lee, Young June, 2009, Apaturinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from the Korean Peninsula: Synonymic Lists and Keys to Tribes, Genera and Species, Zootaxa 2169, pp. 1-20 : 6-7

Apatura iris ( Linnaeus, 1758)

( Figs. 1 , 10 )

Papilio iris Linnaeus, 1758: 476 [Type locality: “ Germania ”; “ Anglia ”].

Apatura iris: Staudinger and Rebel, 1901: 21 (first record from Korea); Seok, 1936: 62; Seok, 1939b: 59; Kim and Mi, 1956: 396; Lee, 1971: 12; Seok, 1973: 88; Lee, 1973: 6; Lee, 1982: 73; Masui and Inomata, 1990: 5; Lee, 1992: 1; Chou, 1994: 426; Korshunov and Gorbunov, 1995: 72; Tuzov et al., 2000: 13; Lee, 2005: 27. Papilio iris f. jole Denis and Schiffermüller, 1775: 172 [Type locality: “Umgebung von Wien”, Austria]; Lee, 1973: 6 ( Apatura iris ab.).

Apatura iris var. bieti Oberthür, 1885: 136 [Type locality: “Tâ-tsien-lou”, Thibet]; Maruda, 1929: 127 ( iris subsp.); Nakayama, 1932: 379 ( iris subsp.); Mori et al., 1934: 35 ( iris subsp.); Kishida and Nakamura, 1936: 517 ( iris subsp.); Seok, 1939b: 60 ( iris subsp.).

Apatura iris amurensis Stichel, 1908: 161 [Type locality: Amurland]; Nire, 1918: 95; Doi, 1919: 122; Okamoto, 1924: 89; Doi, 1928: 50; Maruda, 1929: 127; Nakayama, 1932: 379; Mori et al., 1934: 35; Kishida and Nakamura, 1936: 517; Seok, 1939a: 179 ( iris f.); Seok, 1939b: 59 ( iris f.); Seok and Umitatsu, 1942: 186 ( iris f.); Kim and Mi, 1956: 396 ( iris f.); Seok, 1973: 88 ( iris f.); Shin, 1975: 42, 45; Inomata, 1982: xvii; Masui and Inomata, 1990: 5; Okano, 1998: 6.

Apatura iris iris: Sugitani, 1932b: 100 ; Mori et al., 1934: 35; Seok, 1939a: 178 ( iris f.); Seok, 1939b: 59 ( iris f.); Seok and Umitatsu, 1942: 186 ( iris f.); Kim and Mi, 1956: 396 ( iris f.); Seok, 1973: 88 ( iris f.).

Apatura iris peninsularis Lee and Takakura, 1981: 135 [Type locality: “Mt. Sobaeg, Gyeongsang Bugdo, ROK ”]; Masui and Inomata, 1990: 5, 8.

Subspecies. The Korean populations are considered to belong to the nominal subspecies (cf. Lee 1992) although subsp. amurensis was suggested for the populations from northern Korean Peninsula, northeastern China and Far Eastern Russia (cf. Nire 1918; Tuzov et al. 2000) and subsp. peninsularis was described for those from central and southern Korean Peninsula. No morphological differences are recognizable between the northern Korean populations and the nominal subspecies. The differences in body size and the variations between the northern Korean populations and the southern Korean populations are only transitional.

Adult. Active from mid June to late August (one brood). Males are often encountered on the ground near streams or forest paths. In the afternoon, they move to peaks or ridges and hilltop on nearby trees. Females are not commonly seen as they tend to be sedentary on leaves. Both sexes are attracted to decomposing organisms or fermenting liquids, and neither sex visits flowers. Mating occurs near the food trees or near peaks of mountains in the afternoon.

Larval host plants. Salix caprea ( Sohn and Kim 1990) . In Europe, Salix cinerea L. and Salix aurita L. have also been reported (cf. Higgins and Riley 1983).

Life cycle. See Sohn and Kim (1990) and Harada and Igarashi (1993). Eggs are laid one by one under leaves of the host plants. Larvae are solitary. Usually the 3rd instar larvae hibernate on twigs, in furrows of trunks, on diverging points of two branches, or rarely on leaves of the food plants. Lengths of 1st–5th larval instars are approximately 7, 16, 205, 39 and 33 days.

Distribution. Korea (high altitude areas above 500 m, but not on the adjacent islands), China, Russia and other parts of the Palaearctic region (but not in Japan).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 2. Wing venation of males of Apatura iris and Dilipa fenestra of Apaturinae. 1. Apatura iris (Linnaeus); 2. Dilipa fenestra (Leech) (adapted from Chou (1998 )).

FIGURES 3 – 10. Male specimens of eight species of the Korean Apaturinae. 3. Hestina japonica (Felder and Felder) (summer brood); 4. Sasakia charonda (Hewitson); 5. Mimathyma nycteis (Ménétriès); 6. Sephisa princeps (Fixsen); 7. Chitoria ulupi (Doherty); 8. Apatura ilia (Denis and Schiffermüller); 9. Apatura metis Freyer; 10. Apatura iris (Linnaeus).