Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok XVIII. - Natura Somogyiensis 34. / Miscellanea 18. (Kaposvár, 2020)

Schmidt P. et al.: A faunistic contribution to the butterfly fauna of Oman (Lepidoptera: Diurna)

Schmidt et al.: A contribution to the butterfly fauna of Oman

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Catopsilia florella (Fabricius, 1775)

Material examined'. 1 ex. OMAN, Gov. Dhofar, Jabal al Qamar, seashore below Mugurah, N16°45.768' Е53°30.46Г 16 m, 16.10.2009 leg. S. Ilniczky, S. J. Simonyi; 1 ex. Reg. Al Batinah South, Hubrah,N23°36.097' E57°50.252' 172 m, oasis, 17.07.2010 leg. S. Ilniczky, S. J. Simonyi; 1 ex. / OMAN, Gov. Dhofar / 3 km W of Rakhyuth /N16°45.225' E53°23.905' / 36 m wadi / 31.10.2018 / leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky; 4 exx. / OMAN, Gov. Dhofar / 18 km of roadside between Sadah and Mirbat / N17°9.542' E54°52.774' / 529 m dry rocky vegetation / 02.11.2018 / leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky; 2 exx. / OMAN, Gov. Dhofar / Wadi Shaboun / N17°32.83’ E54°38.78' / 386 m dry forest / 01.05.2019 / leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky, G. Körtési.

Distribution-. The African Migrant is one of the most commonly encountered butterflies on the African continent, although only migrants reach north to the Sahara. It is distributed most part of this continent, also the Arabian Peninsula and certain parts of India and China. The Asian records probably refer to the very similar and hardly distinguishable relative species C. pyranthe (Linnaeus, 1758). During the last decades, C. florella became established in Madeira and also in the Canary Islands (Aguiar & Wakeham-Dawson 2001). In Oman, it is a moderately common, but permanent species.

Remarks: The larval food plants are variously cultivated and wild Cassia species (Tshikolovets 2011).

Pierinae Swainson, 1820

Nepheronia buquetii buchanani (Rothschild, 1921)

Material examined: 1 ex. OMAN, Gov. Dhofar, Jabal al Qamar, S of Mugurah N16°45.768' E53°30.663', seashore, 16.10.2009 leg. S. Ilniczky, S. J. Simonyi; 1 ex. / OMAN, Gov. Dhofar, / 8 km S of Mugurah / N16°45.858' E53°28.547' / 475m dry, forested area / 31.10.2018 / leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky; 2 exx. / OMAN, Gov. Dhofar / Wadi Shaboun / N17°32.83’ E54°38.78’ / 386 m dry forest / 01.05.2019 / leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky, G. Körtési.

Taxonomic note: Larsen doubts the validity of the subspecies buchanani, but he did not formally invalidate it (Larsen 2005).

Distribution: The global distribution of this species covers most arid areas of sub-Saharan Africa. It occurs also in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula, including the Dhofar Region (Polak & Verovnik 2009). It was not found in other parts of Oman so far.

Remarks: N. buquetii is an incredibly fast flier. In-flight, it is nearly impossible to distinguish from the slightly larger males of Catopsilia florella. Rather common in Dhofar, where its larval host plant is Salvadora persica and other Salvadoraceae and Capparaceae (Williams 2019).

Colotis antevippe zera (Lucas, 1852)

Material examined: 1 ex. OMAN Prov. Dhofar,Mughsayl N26°50.969' E53°02.569' 110m foothill, bushy 27.04.2019 leg. L. Ábrahám, S. Ilniczky, G. Körtési.

Distribution: The nominate subspecies is West African, occurring between Mauritania ad Northern Cameroon. Subspecies gavisa (Wallengren, 1857) is distributed from South Africa to Central Tanzania. Subspecies zera (Lucas, 1852) is found from Northern Tanzania, across Kenya, Uganda and Sudan to the Horn of Africa and also to Southern Arabia (Larsen 2005, Williams 2019).