Tomares callimachus, the Caucasian vernal copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Anatolia, Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus, and Transcaucasia.
| Tomares callimachus | |
|---|---|
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| Tomates callimachus from Turkey | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Tomares |
| Species: | T. callimachus
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| Binomial name | |
| Tomares callimachus (Eversmann, 1848)
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| Synonyms | |
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Description in Seitz
editT. callimachus Ev. (= epiphania Boisd., hafis Koll.) (75 e). Above bright fiery cinnabar-red, margins and base of wings black, fringes chequered with brown. Hindwing beneath earth-brown, fasciated with dark brown and minutely dotted with black. Coasts of the Black Sea, Persia and Ferghana. — In the form dentata Stgr., from northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, the black distal margin of the wings is very strongly dentate and the hindwing beneath is grey-brown. — Larva reddish yellow-brown, with dark dorsal line and pale lateral one, between which there is a dark stripe composed of small oblique spots; on Astragalus physodes. The butterflies in April and May on hills, not rare.[1]
The wingspan is 18–23 mm. The species inhabits semi-deserts and arid mountain steppes. It occupies an elevation range from 1000 to 2000 m above sea level.[2] The butterfly flies from late March to early June depending on latitude and elevation.
The larvae feed on the Astragalus species A. physodes and A. vulpinus.
Subspecies
edit- Tomares callimachus callimachus
- Tomares callimachus tauricus Korb & Yakovlev, 1998 (Crimea)
References
edit- ^ Seitz, A. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Butterfly Conservation Armenia: Tomares callimachus.
External links
edit- "Tomares Rambur, 1840" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- Butterfly Conservation Armenia