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New species for Albania
Heteropterus morpheus / Large Chequered Skipper
E kafejta e madhe me kuadrate
Hesperiidae - Heteropterinae
Heteropterus morpheus (Pallas, 1771). TL: Samara, S. Russia.
 
 
   
 
1a. Heteropterus morpheus, distribution map.  Historical data ;  Additional data from the 2018 update ;  New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Heteropterus morpheus ♂ underside. Romania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Habitat of Heteropterus morpheus. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Heteropterus morpheus ♂ upperside. Romania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Heteropterus morpheus ♂. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Heteropterus morpheus ♀. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1g. Heteropterus morpheus ♀. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1h.
Heteropterus morpheus ♀. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1i. Habitat of Heteropterus morpheus. in Albania. Has District, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1j. Has district, seen from Mali i Shkelzenit, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
Note
Due to the lack of clear evidence, Heteropterus morpheus was given the status unexpected in a previous checklist (Cuvelier et al. 2018) but in the checklist of the butterflies of MNE, Franeta (2018) mentions personal observations of H. morpheus from the Lovćen National Park and in the Đalovića gorge during the first half of June. More recently, H. morpheus was also recorded for the first time from RKS (Kabashi-Kastrati et al. 2022) in the Bjeshket e Nemuna National Park, less than 20 km northeast of Albania. These 4 specimens were found in the second half of June at an altitude of 1310 m a.s.l.
The status of H. morpheus was changed from unexpected to potential and we suggested to search during the month of June, in the valleys of NE Albania in moist biotopes with tall grasses, mainly Calamagrostis canescens.
In 2023, H. morpheus was confirmed from the Has district and is currently known from a single locality. Further research is needed to better understand the distribution of the species in Albania.
Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 16-18.
Upf: dark brown-black gc, three to four small yellow pre-apical apical spots near costa.
Unh: numerous large whitish black-ringed spots.
♀♀
Slightly larger than ♂♂.
Upf: yellow pre-apical markings larger.
Unh: similar.
Similar species
None.
Life cycle
Adults: single generation, June-July, short life span.
Egg: 6-10 days.
Caterpillar: feeding from summer till autumn, overwintering as half-grown larva in an open tube, feeding again in spring till pupation.
Pupa: 12-18 days.
Habitat
Heteropterus morpheus inhabits wet meadows with tall grasses near woodland and in shady roads from 300 to 1400 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement modest, population density often low.
Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Brachypodium sylvaticum, Molinia caerulae, Phalaris arundinacea and Phragmites australis.
Butterflies feed on thistles, mud-puddling.
Distribution
Albania: not recorded.
Nearest localities at +/- 20 km. in RKS: Peklen Peak; Rugova Gorge (url)
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB* - IT - ALP* - BAL - NWE* - UK - SCA* - EEU
Caucasus, W. Transcaucasia and further east.
Conservation status
Heteropterus morpheus is at the southern limit of its European range in the Balkan peninsula and recently a single population was discovered in NE Albania.
Albanian Red List: VU.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.
Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps
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