Plebejus idas baitag, Churkin & Yakovlev, 2024

Churkin, Sergei V. & Yakovlev, Roman V., 2024, New data about Plebejus idas (Linnaeus, 1761) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Mongolia with the descriptions of new subspecies, Ecologica Montenegrina 73, pp. 116-124 : 121-124

2. Plebejus idas baitag ssp. nova

https://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:3F5EEBA9-EE64-4D2B-AA9B-22C4B03C7CEA

Plates 1 (upperside) −2 (underside): 1, 2, 3, 4.

Holotype: male, SW Mongolia, Khovd aimak, Baitag Mts., Buduun Khargaityn r., 2000–2500 m, 1– 2.07.2018, S. Churkin leg.

Paratypes: 11 males, 7 females, same data, S. Churkin leg. ; 8 males, 2 females, same data, K. Kolesnichenko leg. ; 2 males, 5 females, SW Mongolia, Khovd aimak, Baitag Mts., Buduun Khargaityn r., 2600-2700 m, 2– 3.07.2018, S. Churkin leg.

Description

Holotype FW length 13.5 mm, male paratypes 12.5−14 mm, female paratypes 13–14.5 mm.

Antennae, palpi, body coloration and hairs seem to have no taxonomically valuable characters.

Male

Wings violet-blue on upperside with narrow marginal black stripe (usually smaller than 1 mm).

Tips of veins darkened up to 2−3 mm from wing edge. HW often with developed black marginal spots. Wings relatively narrow, as in European subspecies.

Underside grey, darkened, black pattern similar to that of previous subspecies.

Underside of FW: postdiscal series of spots straight or slightly curved, submarginal series complete, spots developed, but not fused into one band.

Underside of HW: bluish suffusion not dense, developed up to basal spots; discal stroke developed; postdiscal spots large, space outside from this row lightened, but, as a rule, not contrasting and having a form of whitish zone or with whitish stretched triangular spots.

Submarginal pattern: orange segments of spots usually narrow, though bright; metallic “plates” more developed than in previous subspecies.

Male genitalia: not identical to those of closest subspecies, but serious conclusions require a separate large-scale study.

Female

Wings on upperside with large bright violet spots, occupying basal third on FW and almost all area of HW, except for costal margin; spots clear, because not split into separate parts by veins. FW pattern with submarginal stripe of blurred but clearly noticeable orange spots. HW with developed submarginal pattern of orange arched spots with black triangles from outside.

Characters of wing underside – as those of male, but submarginal pattern better developed. Almost no bluish suffusion on HW underside.

Variability. Little, but noticeable. Part of males with slightly extended marginal band (up to 1.5 mm), no specimens with more extended marginal band, as well as with small spots on underside. Three females without red pattern on FW upperside, one – without that on HW too, wherein the violet pattern well developed, and marginal black spots magnified. One more female with hardly developed violet pattern – so that only root of FW and basal portion of HW are coated with blue; pattern on underside normally developed.

Diagnosis

The new subspecies differs from ssp. munkhbayar and ssp. boreas by the completely violet upperside, from ssp. belchir – by the developed pattern of the underside. Obviously close to the previous subspecies because of the developed submarginal pattern on the underside and in the large metallic «plates» (in which the both taxa differ from the neighboring ssp. shadzgat ).

Nevertheless, the females are violet but not brown – moreover, the violet portions are almost not split into parts by veins (unlike in shadzgat), the orange pattern is usually developed on FW too, the underside (in males) without contrasting white postdiscal zone; orange spots, as a rule, are less developed.

The outer black segments of submarginal spots on HW underside are more developed than the inner segments – it is clearly noticeable in females and only statistically expressed in males.

One male at our disposal is almost identical to the male of ssp. arshantyn , except for the slightly more narrow band and darker underside.

Considering the complete isolation of the habitat, the description of the subspecies seems necessary.

Distribution. Baitag Range, inside the Dzungarian Gobi.

We have a series collected in Ikh-Khavtag-Nuruu Range, the status of this population need in further investigations. The butterflies have another set of characters partially resembling ssp. shadzgat and can represent a separate subspecies, given the range isolation.

Bionomics. Mountain meadows at various altitudes, not common. Food plant unknown.

Etymology. Toponymic name.

Discussion

Here are the distances between different collection points: betrween Arshantyn Nuruu and Shadzgat Nuruu – about 50 km, between Arshantyn Nuruu and Baitag Nuruu – 130 km, but through the desert; where Uvkhod-Ula Mt. is located exactly half-way. The Baitag Mts. and Ikh-Khavtag Nuruu are separated by about 15 km of desert, but in general, the territory absolutely unsuitable for habitat of idas is not less than 50 km (approximately equal to the distance between Uvkhod-Ula and Baitag).

These data directly indicate that the Mongolian Altai and the adjacent mountains have a very fractional zoogeographic division, Therefore, the discovery of new taxa of the idas complex, which is prone to the formation of local forms, is not surprising.

Note that even now the structure of the relationships between various taxa and their relationships/statuses is unclear: presence of belchir with a completely erased underside pattern inside the system, between the areas of munkhbayar and sailjugemicus, suggests the species status of the former taxon. But the characters of shadzgat demonstrate a certain genetic exchange with sailjugemicus, while the relationship of shadzgat and munkhbayar seems doubtless.

Sharp differences between shadzgat and arshantyn (as well as the latter's similarity to the south Altai idas , which are considered as a variant of sailjugemicus – pl. 1-2: 16) confirms the complexity of the situation and the existing system of zoogeographical division of Mongolia ( Yakovlev 2012).

As already indicated, new taxa of the complex can still be discovered - both in the northern half of the huge Mongolian Altai, and on the isolated ridges in the Gobi.

Two points should be emphasized separately.

1. The first is about the taxon saldaitisi Churkin et Zhdanko, 2003, described on a very small series from lake Terekhol in south Tuva on its border with Mongolia. In June 2022, the expedition of V. Tuzov, K. Kolesnichenko and S. Churkin was working in south Tuva, including at Terekhol lake. Unfortunately, the butterflies were not caught, probably due to the phenological time shift. Nevertheless, the first two specimens belonging to the complex were collected near Erzin village, close to the lake. Both are not similar to saldaitisi and in their characters look intermediate between the Central Tuvinian variant ongudai Tutt, 1909 and the Daurian subsolanus Staudinger, 1892. Butterflies similar to subsolanus were also collected by O. Kosterin in the valley of the river Tes-Khem ( Kosterin 2009).

It would be logical to assume that saldaitisi was described from the extreme northern end of its range, which in reality occupies desert and semi-desert areas in the Great Lakes Basin in northwestern Mongolia.

However, we have a series collected by the first author in 2004 on the dry banks of the river Bogdyn-gol in Mongolia, consisting of small butterflies similar to subsolanus, by their upperside color resembling saldaitisi (the wings upperside completely darkened, but the color is not dense), but sharply different from the latter in the underside color (grey in the Mongolian butterflies, and light, similar to Plebejus chalcha Korshunov, 1982 , in saldaitisi). A similar series was collected in the same region by Mongolian entomologists. The status of these series is unclear. But it is difficult to unite them with saldaitisi (as the genital examination was not undertaken in this case).

2. Despite the possibility of identifying separate species within the Siberian and Mongolian idas , the basic structure of the group in Siberia is invariably confirmed – there is undoubtedly a hybridization in appearance (and in terms of genital characteristics) of various taxa of the complex. Figures 1 and 2 show two specimens collected in Ikh-Bogdyn Mts. in the Gobi Altai system – the first (1-2: 19) is small and clarified, related to the darkened version of munkhbayar, the second (1-2: 20) is twice bigger and represents the type form of boreas, described from the east of the Gobi Altai system, Gurvan-Saikhan Mts. The collected series cannot be divided into two types in any logical way; according to the sum of its characteristics, it is included in the composition of boreas, but represents an example of hybridization - most likely positive, since within the range of munkhbayar in the south of the Mongolian Altai there is a long clear cline of the wing upperside lightening from the east (from the contact zone with boreas) to the west .

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to V. Tuzov, K. Kolesnichenko (Moscow) and T. Odbayar ( Ulan-Bator ) for the materials, advices and help during the work. We are grateful to Anna Ustjuzhanina (Tomsk, Russia) for language improvements .

References

Balint, Z. (1989) Hairstreaks, Coppers and Blues from Mongolia (Lep., Lycaenidae). Atalanta, 19, 87−100.

Churkin, S.V., Zhdanko, A.B. (2003) A review of the Plebejus idas - subsolanus complex of the Asian part of Russia and Mongolia with the descriptions of new taxa (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Helios, 4, 3–74.

Churkin, S.V., Yakovlev, R.V. (2005) A new subspecies of Plebejus (idas) munkhabayar Churkin & Zhdanko, 2003 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Mongolian Altai. Helios, 6, 169–174.

Churkin, S.V., Kolesnichenko, K.A. (2019 a) A new species of Lycaena Fabricius, 1807 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from Mongolia with a review of genitalia characters of the related taxa. Zootaxa 4555 (4), 548–560. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4555.4.6

Churkin, S.V., Kolesnichenko, K.A. (2019 b) Two new taxa of Plebejus Kluk, 1780 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Gobi desert, Mongolia. Zootaxa, 4695 (1), 45–58.

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Churkin, S.V., Kolesnichenko, K.A. (2019 c) A new species of Neolycaena de Niceville, 1890 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Dzhungarian Gobi desert, Mongolia. Zootaxa, 4700 (2), 279–288. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4700.2.7

Churkin, S.V., Kolesnichenko, K.A. (2019 d) A new subspecies of Glabroculus elvira (Eversmann, 1854) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Dzhungarian Gobi desert, Mongolia. Zootaxa, 4555 (4), 581–587. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4555.4.9

Churkin, S.V., Kolesnichenko, K.A., Yakovlev, R.V. (2019) Two new taxa of Plebejus Kluk, 1780 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) from the Gobi desert, Mongolia. Zootaxa, 4695 (1), 045–058

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Figures

Plate 1. Adult specimens of Plebejus (upper side): 1 – Plebejus idas baitag ssp. nova, male, holotype, SW Mongolia, Khovd aimak, Baitag Mts., Buduun Khargaityn r., 2000–2500m, 1–2.07.2018, S. Churkin leg. 2 – P. i. baitag ssp. nova, male, paratype, same data as 1. 3 – P. i. baitag ssp. nova, female, paratype, same loc. as 1, 2600−2700m, 2–3.07.2018, S. Churkin leg. 4 – P. i. baitag ssp. nova, female, paratype, same data as 3. 5 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, male, holotype, SW Mongolian Altai, Arshantyn Mts. (north-eastern slopes), Bayangol r., 22.06.2018, 1700−2000 m, S. Churkin. 6 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, male, paratype, SW Mongolian Altai, Arshantyn Mts. (south-western slopes), Khudagt loc., 20.06.2018, 2300−2400 m, S. Churkin. 7 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, female, paratype, same data as 5. 8 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, female, paratype, same data as 5. 9 – P. i. shadzgat, male, paratype, W. Mongolia, Hovd aimak, Bulgan-Gol basin, Uljastyin-Gol Valley, Shadzgat-Nuruu Mountains, 2500–3000 m, 25–26.06.2004, R. Yakovlev & D. Ryzhkov leg. 10 – P. i. shadzgat, male, paratype, same data as 9. 11 – P. i. shadzgat, female, paratype, same data as 9. 12 – P. i. shadzgat, female, paratype, same data as 9. 13 – P. i. sailjigemica, male, paratype, SE Altai, Sailjugem Mts., Dzhumaly R. (upper stream), 2500 m, 10−11. 07. 1991, G. Samodurov leg. 14 – P. i. sailjigemica, female, paratype, female, same data as 13. 15 – P. i. sailjigemica, female, female, Russia, SE Altai, Ukok Pl., 2100 m, 1−10.07.2009, S. Kakunin leg. 16 – P. i. sailjigemica (?), male, Kazakhstan, South Altai, Sarym-Sakty Mts., Tautekeli r., 2200 m, 28.06.2011, S. Toropov leg. 17 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, male (form), paratype, same data as 5. 18 – P. i. arshantyn ssp. nova, male, SW Mongolia, Dzhungarian Gobi, 45 km SW Bulgan-somon, Uvkhod-Ula Mt., 1200 m, 18−19.06.2004, R. Yakovlev & D. Ryzhkov leg. 19 – P. i. boreas, male (munkhbayar-like form), Mongolia, Gobi-Altai Mts., Ikh-Borgyn Nuruu Mts., 20 km NW Orgen, 24.06.2002, 2250 m, S. Churkin leg. 20 – P. i. boreas, male (normal form), same data as 19.