Komarov E.V.1, Samus A.N.2 2024. New data on distribution of Praephilotes anthracias (Christoph, 1877) (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) in the South-East regions of European part of Russia // Euroasian Entomological Journal. Vol.23. No.5: 293–294 [in English].
1 All-Russian Research Institute of Irrigated Agriculture, Timiriazeva Str. 9, Volgograd 400002 Russia. E-mail: evkomarov@rambler.ru
2 Volgograd Branch of the Russian Entomological Society, Volgograd 400000 Russia. E-mail: alex.samus@yandex.ru
doi 10.15298/euroasentj.23.05.09
ABSTRACT. The Lycaenidae butterfly species Praephilotes anthracias (Christoph, 1877) was firstly registered from Russia in 1998 in a sandy dune desert near the village of Dosang in Astrakhanskaya Oblast, where it was found on Calligonum aphyllum (Pall.) Gürke, which serves as a food plant for the caterpillars of this species. Over the next 18 years, all recorded occurrences of P. anthracias occurred exclusively at the site of its initial discovery. In April 2016, the authors collected P. anthracias 100 km north of Dosang, near the village of Sasykoli in the Kharabalinskii district of the Astrakhanskaya Oblast. This is the northernmost record of the species to date. In April 2022, the authors examined an artificial planting of C. aphyllum in the Yashkul’ district of Kalmykia, where a specimen of P. anthracias was collected for the first time on the right bank of the Volga river, near the village of Khulkhuta. This newly discovered population is more than 130 km west of the previously known locations of the species and has been established less than 10 years ago, as planting of C. aphyllum began in the area in 2010–2012. Probably, new local populations of P. anthracias may be found in Kalmykia and possibly Dagestan, particularly where C. aphyllum has been planted to stabilise the sands.
KEY WORDS: Lycaenidae, Praephilotes anthracias, new record, Republic of Kalmykia.