Melitaea phoebe subsp. mandarina, Seitz, 1909

Russell, Peter J. C., Lukhtanov, Vladimir A. & Tennent, W. John, 2022, Reassessment of the status of some European and Asian Melitaea taxa described as subspecies of Melitaea phoebe ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), with designations of lectotypes where appropriate (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Zootaxa 5141 (1), pp. 25-38 : 30

M. phoebe mandarina Seitz, 1909

[TL Mongolia] a specimen of unspecified sex figured by Seitz (plate 65, fig. h, 1) is large and heavily marked, particularly the forewing post-discal black square spots. Higgins (1941: 340) suggested that it was a form very similar to the taxon changaica (see above) and his illustrations ( Higgins 1941: plate 14, figs 7 & 8), show a similarity in spite of the large disparity in size. Van Oorschot & Coutsis (2014: 60) indicated that there were two female specimens in the Zoologisches Museum in Berlin (D), they did not illustrate either but placed this form under M. phoebe . The underside submarginal markings of specimens illustrated by Seitz and Higgins are curved and touch the intervening veins clearly indicating an association with M. phoebe , agreeing with van Oorschot & Coutsis (2014: 60) and Russell & Tennent (2016: note 49).