Colias thisoa
Encyclopedia
Colias thisoa is a butterfly
in the Pieridae
family. It is found in the mountains of the Caucasus
, Transcaucasia, central Asia
, southern Siberia
, Turkey
and Iran
. The habitat consists of humid mountain meadows in the forest belt.
The larvae feed on Astragalus
species.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
in the Pieridae
Pieridae
The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...
family. It is found in the mountains of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, Transcaucasia, central Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, southern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The habitat consists of humid mountain meadows in the forest belt.
The larvae feed on Astragalus
Astragalus
Astragalus is a large genus of about 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. The genus is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
species.
Subspecies
The following subspecies are recognised:- Colias thisoa thisoa (Caucasus Major)
- Colias thisoa strandiana Sheljuzhko, 1935 (Caucasus Minor, Armenian Highland)
- Colias thisoa shakuhensis Sheljuzhko, 1935 (Talysh, Kopet-Dagh)
- Colias thisoa aeolides Grum-Grshimailo, 1890 (northern and Inner Tian-Shan, Ghissar, Darvaz, Alai)
- Colias thisoa urumtsiensis Verity, 1909 (central Tian-Shan)
- Colias thisoa irtyschensis Lukhtanov, 1999 (south-western Altai)
- Colias thisoa nikolaevi Korshunov, 1998 (Alai, Kurai, Tyurguno Steppe)