Ripart's anomalous blue (''Polyommatus ripartii'') is a
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
in the family
Lycaenidae
Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfl ...
.
It is found in Southern Europe,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
,
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
and the
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
, South-West
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The m ...
and
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. Flies in high summer, July to August in hot dry grassy places and slopes with flowers
It now includes the former ''Agrodiaetus galloi'' (Italy), ''Agrodiaetus exuberans'' (Italy), and ''Agrodiaetus agenjoi'' (Spain), which used to be considered endemic species with highly restricted distribution ranges, but were then shown to be local populations of ''P. ripartii''.
It is very similar to ''
Polyommatus admetus
''Polyommatus admetus'', the anomalous blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1783. It is found in south-eastern Europe and Turkey.
The wingspan is 30–40 mm. Adults are on win ...
'' and Seitz regards it as a form of ''admetus'' - ''ripartii'' Frr. (81 f), but has on the hindwing below a white mesial streak which extends from the base to the outer margin.
Its Polish population is considered one of the most endangered butterflies in central Europe.
Etymology
The butterfly is named after the French butterfly collector Rippert de Beaugency (1794–1875).
[Luquet, G. C. & Lévêque, A. (2016): Brèves notes biographiques sur le lépidoptériste Jean François Jules de Rippert (°1794 – † 1875) et précisions sur la localisation de ses prospections près de Beaugency. – ''Alexanor'', 27: 197-207.]
References
Gallery
Polyommatus ripartii 1.jpg
Polyommatus ripartii 2.jpg
Polyommatus ripartii.JPG, mating
Polyommatusripartii.jpg, figure from Seitz
External links
Euro Butterfliesimages
Polyommatus
Butterflies of Europe
Butterflies of Asia
Butterflies described in 1830
{{Lycaenidae-stub