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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 18, 2019 20:00:02 GMT
Peter,
Himalayan Parnassius don't move from their precise habitat, as they generally only have about 1 hour or so per day in which they can actually fly. The rest of the time it is too cold. They need to spend that time feeding, mating and laying eggs. They also spend all their time on the precise habitat where they live, so species that live on a rocky scree slope will not move off it, for example.
It is worth noting that Central Asian 'charltonius' was recently split into a separate species, P. romanovi, based on morphology and DNA analysis (Churkin & Michel, 2014). They also found significant DNA differences between ssp. charltonius and deckerti from Ladakh.
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Dec 19, 2019 11:27:15 GMT
Adam, I do respect your views as one of one of World's (if not the best) foremost Papilionidae experts, a group I know very little about. I was not saying that Parnassius charltonius and the others do not have subspecies in the more remote regions, but have became suspicious when every author wants to name a subspecies from an adjoining valley. I am even further amazed that they are now splitting P. charltonius into full species I am sure I am not alone in thinking that there are too many Parnassius and Ornithoptera subspecies being named, although no one has said so here? It is not really important to me how many subspecies of Parnassius are being named, as my main interest is historical collectors, many of whom were very knowledgeable. It made me laugh out loud to hear them call blokes; I guess with my current thinking I belong with them back in the 19th century. I am happy if those that study the Parnassius are happy with the current situation. Without doubt we would all agree they are a fascinating group to study, and it must be amazing to see these high altitude butterflies that Charlton discovered in their habitat. Peter.
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