Distribution and Morphological Variations in Coenonympha leander (Lepidoptera, Satyridae) Populations from the Urals

Abstract

The modern distribution of the Western Eurasian subboreal butterfly Coenonympha leander (Esper, 1784) was studied in the Urals region, with its northeastern range limits specified at 56°N and 65°E. There are isolated local C. leander populations in the forest-steppe, while in the steppe zone the species is distributed fairly uniformly. In the Ural steppes the species is tolerant to moderate anthropogenic transformation of natural communities; the species is not rare and cannot serve as an indicator of intact communities, as opposed to other parts of its range. The geographic variations in the wing length and also the diameters and frequency of eyespots in the wing pattern are analyzed. The highest morphological specificity was detected in the marginal outpost populations, especially the northernmost population of Nizhnee Tukbaevo in Bashkortostan, which lives under the unique conditions of the azonal Mesyagutovo forest-steppe and tends to form a cline, with the wing size decreasing and the eyespot diameters and frequency increasing from north to south.