Research Article |
Corresponding author: Zdravko Kolev ( zkolev@nmnhs.com ) Academic editor: Levan Mumladze
© 2024 Zdravko Kolev, János Novák, Armen Seropian.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Kolev Z, Novák J, Seropian A (2024) On the presence of Hipparchia parisatis (Kollar, 1849) in the Republic of Georgia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Caucasiana 3: 263-271. https://doi.org/10.3897/caucasiana.3.140259
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The first records of the highly distinctive Nymphalid species Hipparchia parisatis (Kollar, 1849) from the Republic of Georgia (Vashlovani Nature Reserve, hereafter VNR) are reported. The taxonomy and distribution of the species in the South Caucasus region are discussed, and the importance of the Vashlovani Protected Areas (hereafter VPA) as a hotspot for butterfly diversity in Georgia is emphasized. The report also highlights the importance of active collaboration, at the interface of web-based data recording platforms, between professional biologists and citizen science initiatives for the effective advancement of biodiversity research and conservation.
biodiversity, citizen science, conservation, new records, Papilionoidea, South Caucasus, Vashlovani
Hipparchia parisatis (Kollar, 1849) is one of the most distinctive species in the genus Hipparchia Fabricius, 1807. The most distinctive character on the upperside of the wings in both sexes is the striking white coloration of the hindwing margin (which has engendered the English vernacular of the species, the White-edged Rock Brown). This white margin is also present, but to a much lesser extent, along the forewing margin. There is only one other species with a similarly patterned upperside: Hipparchia stulta (Staudinger, 1882), which occurs in Central Asia. However, H. stulta is lacking the striking hindwing underside ocellation (Fig.
The confirmed range of H. parisatis lies in West and Central Asia and includes Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, NW India, and SW Tibet (
The general range of the species in the Caucasus region was stated by
In the course of field research funded by the Visegrad Scholarship Program in VNR (Dedoplistskaro Municipality, Georgia), the second author recorded a Hipparchia specimen and managed to photograph it in its natural setting, without disturbing or catching it. Owing to the distinctive appearance of the species in question (see Introduction and Fig.
Observer | Date | Coordinates | Elevation, m | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Noé Terorde | 01.10.2016 | 41.2159, 46.4331 | 580–590 | https://observation.org |
Sieglien De Roo | 07.08.2019 | 41.2373, 46.3656 | 370-380 | https://observation.org |
Guido Rappé | 21.09.2022 | 41.2373, 46.3758 | 420–430 | https://observation.org |
Karina Samyn | 21.09.2022 | 41.2374, 46.3758 | 420–430 | https://observation.org |
János Novák | 07.10.2023 | 41.2413, 46.3616 | 410-420 | https://inaturalist.org |
IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature;
VNR – Vashlovani Nature Reserve;
VNP – Vashlovani National Park;
VPA – Vashlovani Protected Areas (comprising VNR and VNP);
WDPA – World Database on Protected Areas.
The second author photographed a Hipparchia parisatis specimen on 7.10.2023 in VNR (Dedoplistskaro Municipality, Georgia). He deposited the record in iNaturalist, as follows. The first author – a validator for another online citizen science platform, Observation.org – conducted a search therein for further records of the species. This search uncovered four older records of the species in Observation.org, all documented with photographs and all from the same protected area in Southeast Georgia (VNR). These records include a single specimen photographed in 2016, a single specimen in 2019, and two specimens at the same time and place in 2022 (Observation.org 2024, Table
Records of Hipparchia parisatis (Kollar, 1849) from the Republic of Georgia (black-centred dots, with numbers corresponding to those in the text). Green line: border of VNR, grayed area: VPA, yellow line: state border. Inset: Map of the countries of the Caucasus area, with the area shown enlarged in the main map denoted by a grey rectangle. Map data © 2024 Google; satellite imagery © 2024 Airbus; base map produced with Google Earth Pro®.
All records of H. parisatis listed in Table
The known habitats of H. parisatis in Georgia, Datviskheoba gorge and its vicinity, constitute semidesert with some light woodland dominated by Pistacia mutica and Juniperus spp. and dry steppe-like grassland dominated by Artemisia spp. and diverse grasses (Poaceae), grasses being the principal larval host plants of H. parisatis (
The available records of H. parisatis from Georgia span the period from 07.08. to 07.10., which undoubtedly is just a part of the entire flight period of the species. It flies in a single generation, which emerges in May–June in the south of its range in Oman (
The Georgian records of H. parisatis are of particular zoogeographical interest because they are by far the northernmost known occurrences of the species anywhere in its range and the only ones north of the 41st parallel. The species map on the website of Butterfly Conservation Armenia (
Georgia is a country with a very rich, yet still inadequately researched butterfly fauna (
The herein summarized records of Hipparchia parisatis, apart from adding one more confirmed butterfly species to the fauna of Georgia, also highlight the importance of Vashlovani as a faunistically exceptional area for Georgia – a relic of subtropical arid western-Asian habitats that are nowadays mostly found much further south in Armenia and Azerbaijan. In addition to H. parisatis, five other butterfly taxa adapted to such habitats are known in Georgia only from Vashlovani: Eogenes alcides (Herrich-Schäffer, [1852]) (Hesperiidae), Lachides galba (Lederer, 1855), Kretania stekolnikovi Stradomsky & Tikhonov, 2015 (Lycaenidae), Melitaea persea Kollar, 1849, and Melitaea abbas Gross & Ebert, 1975 (Nymphalidae) (
The present report also emphasizes the value of citizen science in general and web-based recording platforms and databases such as Observation.org and iNaturalist in particular for facilitating high-quality, evidence-based research on biodiversity. The value of these web-based platforms for gathering basic distribution data is already broadly recognized if not yet universally appreciated. However, the important aspect that we wish to underline is the need for professional biologists (taxonomists, ecologists, etc.) to interact and engage more actively with the abovementioned citizen science platforms. This should be done not merely to curate species determinations but, moreover, in order to properly assess the scientific significance of data recorded therein and facilitate further dissemination among the professional community and other potential stakeholders. In the present case, the older Georgian records of H. parisatis in the aforementioned platforms, the oldest dating back from 2016, would have remained unnoticed for who knows how long had it not been a professional biologist (J. Novák) who himself photographed the species there – only after that, in the course of writing the manuscript of this paper, did the older records come to light. Thus, a better appreciation of the benefits as well as drawbacks of citizen science is urgently needed among science professionals and scientific and administrative institutions. Only in this way can we hope to maximize the usefulness of citizens’ initiative and capacity in the field of biodiversity research for the benefit of both science and society
We are grateful to Dr. Chris Van Swaay (Observation.org) for his kind advice on using web-based data recording platforms for publication purposes. Additionally we are thankful to Levan Mumladze (Subject editor) and two anonymous reviewers for evaluating our MS.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
JN made his 2023 observation of H. parisatis in the course of research funded by the Visegrad Scholarship Program (application ID #52310276).
All authors have contributed equally.
Zdravko Kolev https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8244-371X
János Novák https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3023-19720
Armen Seropian https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3777-9954
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.