Tomares callimachus

Tomares callimachus, the Caucasian vernal copper, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Anatolia, Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus, and Transcaucasia.

Caucasian vernal copper
Tomates callimachus from Turkey
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Lycaenidae
Genus:
Tomares
Species:
T. callimachus
Binomial name
Tomares callimachus
(Eversmann, 1848)
Synonyms
  • Lycaena callimachus Eversmann, 1848
  • Tomares epiphania (Boisduval, 1848)
  • Polyommatus epiphania Herrich-Schäffer, 1850
  • Polyommatus hafis Kollar, [1849]

Description in Seitz

T. callimachus Ev. (= epiphania Boisd., hafis Koll.) (75 e). Above bright fiery cinnabar-red, margins and base of wings black, fringes chequered with brown. Hindwing beneath earth-brown, fasciated with dark brown and minutely dotted with black. Coasts of the Black Sea, Persia and Ferghana. — In the form dentata Stgr., from northern Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, the black distal margin of the wings is very strongly dentate and the hindwing beneath is grey-brown. — Larva reddish yellow-brown, with dark dorsal line and pale lateral one, between which there is a dark stripe composed of small oblique spots; on Astragalus physodes. The butterflies in April and May on hills, not rare.[1]

The wingspan is 18–23 mm. The species inhabits semi-deserts and arid mountain steppes. It occupies an elevation range from 1000 to 2000 m above sea level.[2] The butterfly flies from late March to early June depending on latitude and elevation.

The larvae feed on the Astragalus species A. physodes and A. vulpinus.

Subspecies
  • Tomares callimachus callimachus
  • Tomares callimachus tauricus Korb & Yakovlev, 1998 (Crimea)
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References
  1. Seitz, A. Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter, 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Butterfly Conservation Armenia: Tomares callimachus.
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