2021 Ecosystem Transformation 4 (3), 57–67

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea) of the Moldo-Too Range (Inner Tien-Shan): faunistic analysis and vertical distribution

Korb S.K.  

Data on the fauna and vertical distribution of butterflies of the Moldo-Too Mountain Range (Inner Tien Shan) are presented. The material for research was collected during 12 summer seasons at 9 points of the ridge. The fauna of this mountainous region includes 118 species of Rhopalocera: 9 species of Hesperiidae, 7 species of Papilionidae, 15 species of Pieridae, 21 species of Nymphalidae, 23 species of Satyridae, 1 species of Riodinidae and 42 species of Lycaenidae. The vertical distribution of this fauna on the Moldo-Too Range is as follows: 79 species in low mountains,100 species in middle mountains, 60 species in high mountains and 31 species in ultrahigh mountains. The distribution of this fauna on the key habitats is as follows: 91 species in steppes, 105 species in dry meadows, 57 species in wet meadows, 14 species in screes, 23 species in rocks and rocky places and 18 species in the bushes. It is shown that the faunas of the low and middle mountains, high and ultrahigh mountains are similar, and that the faunas of two of the six key biotopes (steppes and dry meadows) are similar; possible causes of this similarity are discussed.

S. K. Korb
Russian Entomological Society, Nizhny Novgorod Branch
PO Box 97, Nizhny Novgorod, 603009 Russia

stanislavkorb@list.ru

Gorodkov, K.B, 1984. Tipy arealov nasekomykh tyndry i lesnykh zon evropeyskoy chasti SSSR [Types of insect habitats in the tundra and
forest zones of the European part of the USSR]. In: Gorodkov, K.B. (ed.), Arealy nasekomykh yevropeyskoy chasti SSSR. Karty 179–221
[Geographic ranges of insects of the European part of the USSR. Maps 179–221]. Nauka, Leningrad, USSR, 3–20. (In Russian).
Gribkov, A.V., Pozhidaeva, L.V., Kuzmenkin, D.V., Shchur, A.V., 2017. Polevoy opredelitel’ klyuchevykh biotopov i ob’yektov, podlezhashchikh sokhraneniyu pri osvoyenii lesosek na territorii Respubliki Altay [Field guide to key biotopes and objects to be preserved during the development of cutting areas in the Altai Republic]. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 54 p. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 1994. Vertikal’noe raspredelenia bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) na Kirfizskom khrebte [Vertical
distribution of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) on the Kyrgyz ridge]. Zoologicheskiy zhurnal [Zoological Journal] 73 (7, 8), 123–129. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2000. Ocherk fauny bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) Severnogo Tyan-Shanya [Essay on the fauna of butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of the North Tien Shan]. Zoologicheskiy zhurnal [Zoological Journal] 79 (7), 824-832. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2010. Bulavousye cheshuekrylye (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) Suusamyrskoy doliny (Kyrgyzstan): obzor fauny s opisaniem dvukh novykh vidov [Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of the Suusamyr valley (Kyrgyzstan): an overview of the fauna with a description of two new species]. Altayskiy zoologicheskiy zhurnal [Altay Zoological Journal] 2009 (3), 31–42. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2012. Zoogeographicheskiy analiz poyasnoy struktury fauny bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh Severnogo Tyan-Shanya
(Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) i voprosy genezisa fauny Tsentralnoy Azii [Zoogeographic analysis of the belt structure of the fauna of butterflies of the North Tien Shan (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) and questions of the origin of the fauna of Central Asia]. Kavkazskiy entomologicheskiy byulleten’ [Caucasian Entomological Bulletin] 8 (2), 283–296. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2015. Vertikal’noe raspredelenia bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh na khrebte Terskey Ala-Too (Severniy Tyan-Shan) (Lepidoptera, Papilionoformes) [Vertical distribution of butterflies on the Terskey Ala-Too Ridge (North Tien Shan) (Lepidoptera, Papilionoformes)]. Trudy Mordovskogo gosudarstvennogo prirodnogo zapovednika imeni P.G. Smidovicha [Proceedings of Mordovian State Natural Reserve named after P.G. Smidovich] 14, 255–266. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2016. Sravnitel’nyi analiz vertikal’nogo raspredeleniya bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea) v gorakh Yugo-Zapadnogo Pamira (Tadzhikistan) [Comparative analysis of the vertical distribution of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea) in the mountains of the Southwestern Pamir (Tajikistan)]. Kavkazskiy entomologicheskiy
byulleten’ [Caucasian Entomological Bulletin] 12 (2), 289–296. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., 2018. Butterfly fauna of Dzhumgal- Too mountain ridge in Kyrgyzstan (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea). Acta Biologica Sibirica 4 (2), 53–60.
Korb, S.K., 2019. Zakonomernosti vertikal’nogo raspredeleniya bulavousykh cheshuekrylykh (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea) Sredney Azii [Patterns of the vertical distribution of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea) in Central Asia]. Kavkazskiy entomologicheskiy byulleten’ [Caucasian Entomological Bulletin] 15 (1), 187–202. (In Russian).
Korb, S.K., Bolshakov, L.V., 2016. A systematic catalogue of butterflies of the former Soviet Union (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lituania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan) with special account to their type specimens (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea,
Papilionoidea). Zootaxa 4160, 1–324.
Kryzhanovsky, O.L., 1965. Sostav i proiskhozhdeniye nazemnoy fauny Sredney Azii [Composition and
origin of the terrestrial fauna of Central Asia]. Nauka, Moscow – Leningrad, USSR, 419 p. (In Russian).
Pesenko, Yu.A., 1982. Printsipy i metody kolichestvennogo analiza v faunisticheskikh issledovaniyakh [Principles and methods of quantitative analysis in faunistic research]. Nauka, Moscow, USSR, 288 p. (In Russian).
Semenov, P.P., 1858. Pervaya poezdka na Tyan- Shan ili Nebesnyi khrebet do verkhovya sistemy r. Yaksarta ili Syr-Dar’yi v 1857 godu [The first trip to the Tien Shan or the Nebesnyi Ridge to the upper reaches of the Jaxartes or Syr Darya River in 1857]. Vestnik Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva [Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society] 23, 1–25.
Zhdanko, A.B., 1979. Vertikal’noe raspredelenie dnenykh babochek (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) Zailiyskogo Alatau [Vertical distribution of diurnal butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) of the Trans-Ili Alatau]. Novosti entomologii Kazakhstana [News of entomology of Kazakhstan]. Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, 79–84. (In Russian).
Zhdanko, A.B, 1983. Vertikal’noe raspredelenie dnevnykh babochek (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) v gorakh Severnogo Tyan-Shanya i Yushnogo Altaya [Vertical distribution of diurnal butterflies (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea) in the mountains of the North Tien Shan and South Altai]. Entomologicheskoye obozreniye [Entomological Review] 62 (4), 716–727. (In Russian).
Zimina, R.P, 1964. Zakonomernosti vertikal’nogo rasprostraneniya mlekopitayushchikh [Patterns of vertical distribution of mammals. Nauka, Moscow, USSR, 158 p. (In Russian).