Satyrinae of the Western Palearctic

Hipparchia fidia (Linnaeus, 1767)

Type locality: Barbarie - Algeria

Range: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia & South West Europe.

Habitat: Dry, hot rocky bushy slopes & dry bushy soil-banks from sea level up to 1,400mtrs in Europe and between 1,000 – 2,200mtrs in North Africa.

Flight Period: Late June to late August in Europe; July to October in NW Africa

Subspecies:

ssp. hebitis? (Rotschild, 1917) – Guelt-es-Stel (Algeria) When Linnaeus described this species in the “Linné, C. a 1767. Systema naturæ, Tom. I. Pars II. Editio duodecima reformata. - pp. 533-1327, [1-37]. Holmiæ. (Salvius).”, on page 770, the type specimens where taken from “Habitat in Barbaria”.  Between the 16th and the 19th century, the term “Barbaria” or Barbary Coast or Berber Coast was used by the Europeans to refer to the mass of land from the Mediterranean cost of Algeria going inland up until the centre of Algeria.  Today, the terms Maghreb and "Tamazgha" correspond roughly to "Barbary".  The term "Barbary Coast" emphasizes the Berber coastal regions and cities throughout the middle and western coastal regions of North Africa – what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. The English term "Barbary" (and its European varieties: Barbaria, Berbérie, etc.) referred mainly to the entire Berber lands including non-coastal regions, deep into the continent. This is clearly the case in European geographical and political maps published during the 17–20th centuries.  Therefore, since the type locality of H. fidia lies in North Africa, in my opinion the subspecies hebitis which is also found in Algeria is not a valid name as this is referring simply to the nominate form.  However, since the European specimens are slightly different from their North African counterparts (similar to Chazara prieuri) I am of the opinion that the European specimens can validly be considered as a subspecies of the Hipparchia fidia found in North Africa.  The subspecies name I am proposing is H. fidia iberica.

Original description: "alis dentalis: supra fufcis caeruleo micantibus primoribus ocellis duobus, duobusque punctis albis. Corpus magnitudine: Alae supra omnes nigra caeruleo micantes. ocelli ad margiuem exteriorem inter ques puncta 2 alba. Subtus cinerea undis duabus albis nigro inductis: primores ocellis 2 & punctis albis, ut supra; posticae posterius punctis 2 albis & 1 nigro, que interdum supra etiam oofervantur."

ssp. fidia

ssp. hebitis

ssp. iberica

 

ssp. fidia

ssp. hebitis

ssp. iberica

 
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