Spialia phlomidis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1845)


Spialia phlomidis: Upper side (e.l. Florina, N-Greece, larva in May 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Lower side (e.l. Florina 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Portrait [S] Spialia phlomidis: Ovum [N] Spialia phlomidis: Ovum [N] Spialia phlomidis: L1-larva [S] Spialia phlomidis: L2-larva [S] Spialia phlomidis: L3-larva [S] Spialia phlomidis: L4-larva (Florina, N-Greece, May 2008) [M] Spialia phlomidis: Larva near the last moult (Florina, May 2008) [M] Spialia phlomidis: Larva after the last moult (e.l. Florina 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Fully-grown larva (e.l. Florina 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Pupa dorsal (e.l. Florina 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Pupa ventral (e.l. Florina 2008) [S] Spialia phlomidis: Habitat in N-Greece, where also Pyrgus cinarae, P. serratulae and P. sidae occur [N] Spialia phlomidis: Habitat in the May (Florina, Vatochori) [N]

Host plants:
The species feeds on Convolvulus species of dry, often rocky slopes. I found eggs and caterpillars on Convolvulus lineatus (Greece).

Habitat:
Spialia phlomidis inhabits open, hot dry steppe habitats, rocky slopes, grasslands and pastures.

Life cycle:
I observed eggs and oviposition in the area of the Prespa lakes in Northern Greece in mid-July 2007. The half-grown caterpillar (L3) should hibernate. According to literature, Spialia phlomidis flies in late May and in June. Larvae which I observed in the first week of May 2008 were mostly in penultimate instar and lived in shelters at the ground. Spialia phlomidis has thus only a single generation at least in this area (1000m asl) with butterflies from mid-June to late July.

Endangerment factors:
Spialia phlomidis is increasingly endangered due to cultivation of the habitats (agriculture), but also due to construction of solar parks, overgrazing and abandonment.

Remarks:
Spialia phlomidis occurs in Europe only in the extreme southeast (southern Albania to Greece, southern Bulgaria and Turkey). The steppe species is also found in parts of Southwestern Asia.



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