Melitaea phoebe var. saturata, Staudinger, 1892

Russell, Peter J. C., Lukhtanov, Vladimir A. & Tennent, W. John, 2022, Reassessment of the status of some European and Asian Melitaea taxa described as subspecies of Melitaea phoebe ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), with designations of lectotypes where appropriate (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae), Zootaxa 5141 (1), pp. 25-38 : 28

M. phoebe var. saturata Staudinger, 1892

[TL: Kentai Mountains, Mongolia] A large and brightly coloured form typical of ‘mountain forms’ ( Higgins 1941: 342). Van Oorschot & Coutsis (2014: plate 12, fig. 25) figured a brightly coloured male syntype from the Staudinger collection in Zoologisches Museum der Humboldt Universität, Berlin. Both authors synonymised this variety with M. phoebe , as did Russell & Tennent (2016: 53, note 80). On the internet www.funet.fi (accessed 26.10.2020) has a photograph (© Kosterin) of the underside of a female(?), from the Iskitim District, Novosibirst Province, Western Siberia, Russian Federation on 21 st June 1997; this shows clearly the wing markings and antennae distinctive of M. phoebe rather than of M. ornata . We confirm that the name saturata is referable to M. phoebe .