Butterflies of Bulgaria

Investigations of butterflies in Bulgaria have been carried out for nearly 170 years. The rather detailed faunistic work ‘Die horizontale Verbreitung der Schmetterlinge in Bulgarien’ by Buresch & Tuleschkow (1929—1930) is quite out of date, and as far as it concerns the so called ‘common’ species totally incomplete. Several species were reported as ‘new’ for the Bulgarian fauna in the next 70 years and additional data about their distribution were accumulated for many others. Then, in 2001, came out ‘An Atlas of the Distribution of the Butterflies in Bulgaria’ (Abadjiev, 2001b), presenting the species distribution using UTM maps. Additional, mostly newly collected, data has been added, too.

Presently it has been estimated that the Bulgarian butterfly fauna comprises 214 species, which is a relatively great number for the small territory of the country. These include some migrants like Gonepteryx cleopatra (Linnaeus, 1767) and Nymphalis vaualbum ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), known by single records and with no permanent colonies established. Twelve species, previously published, have been excluded from the list of Bulgarian butterflies: Pyrgus cirsii (Rambur, [1839]) has been excluded after the absence of material; Archon apollinus (Herbst, 1798) due to the improper observation and absence of material; Leptidea morsei Fenton, 1881 due to the incorrect determination; Colias chrysotheme (Esper, [1781]) after incorrect subsequent determination; Muschampia proto (Ochsenheimer, 1818), Lycaena thetis Klug, 1834, Chilades trochylus (Freyer, [1845]), Plebeius orbitulus (Prunner, 1798), Pseudochazara geyeri (Herrich-Schäffer, [1846]), Pseudochazara graeca (Staudinger, 1870) and Boloria titania (Esper, [1793]) after incorrect presumption of the material origin and Polyommatus eros (Ochsenheimer, 1808) after incorrect subsequent citation of published works in which Polyommatus eroides (Frivaldszky, 1835) has been treated as a subspecies of the last taxon. For several species, including Erynnis marloyi (Boisduval, [1843]), Spialia phlomidis (Herrich-Schäffer, [1845]), Zerynthia cerisy (Godart, [1824]), Colias caucasica Staudinger, 1871, Gonepteryx farinosa (Zeller, 1847), Euchloe penia (Freyer, [1851], Pieris krueperi Staudinger, 1860, Lycaena candens (Herrich-Schäffer, [1844]), etc., Bulgaria represents a significant part or a northern limit of the species ranges. All of them, together with numerous Balkan endemics (some at subspecies level), Parnassius apollo graecus Ziegler, 1901, Polyommatus nephohiptamenos (Brown & Coutsis, 1978), Erebia orientalis Elwes, 1900, E. alberganus phorcys (Freyer, 1836), E. rhodopensis Nicholl, 1900, E. gorge pirinica Buresch, 1918, E. pandrose ambicolorata Varga, 1971, Pseudochazara orestes De Prins & van der Poorten, 1981, Euphydryas cynthia leonhardi (Fruhstorfer, 1917), Boloria pales rilaensis Varga, 1971, etc., form the unique character of the Bulgarian butterfly fauna.

Three species, Muschampia cribrellum (Eversmann, 1841), Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853) and Colias myrmidone (Esper, [1781]), are known by museum specimens only. They need confirmation. For one species, Polyommatus damon ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), there is no material from Bulgaria in the examined collections. It is also necessary to be mentioned that there are no new reliable records for Lopinga achine (Scopoli, 1763), Coenonympha oedippus (Fabricius, 1787) and Nymphalis xanthomelas (Esper, [1781]). Two species, Colias hyale (Linnaeus, 1758) and especially Leptidea reali Reissinger, 1990, are known each one from a single locality only, a fact which is known from incomplete research and which means that their distribution is probably wider. The same applies to Pieris balcana Lorkovic, [1970]. The species Colias erate (Esper, [1805]), which after active migration process, had been recorded in many sites in the middle of the eighties is now disappearing in a great part of them. For many species recent investigations, show that colonies are stable and that there is no tendency of declining.

A cartographic system based on UTM grid has been used for the presentation of species distribution. This system is most frequently recommended and applied for illustration of distribution of invertebrates in Europe. For this purpose a map with an original UTM grid has been redrawn in a simple electronic form, suitable for illustration. Localities of the species have been mapped entirely by hand. Data for mapping have been obtained by literature sources, examination of collections, or by field research. Beside in many private collections, Bulgarian butterfly material has been examined from the rich holdings of the National Museum of Natural History and the Institute of Zoology, Sofia. Different localities have been named after the neighbouring settlements, mountain peaks, rivers, lakes, tourist chalets, etc. Collected information has been entered into a computer database (FileMaker Pro 8.5 of FileMaker, Inc.), verified and subsequently sorted. In the final scheme it has been found appropriate to include the species data in a text form alongside the maps. These data comprise UTM grid reference, locality and source, and are suitable for quick reference. The species of nature conservation concern (eg those listed in Appendix II of the Bern Convention, CITES, Red Data Books, protected by law in Bulgaria) have also been indicated. The butterfly classification generally follows those, used by Hesselbarth, van Oorschot & Wagener (1995).

	Butterflies of Bulgaria > Introduction
			Introduction Investigations of butterflies in Bulgaria have been carried out for nearly 170 years. The rather detailed faunistic work ‘Die horizontale Verbreitung der Schmetterlinge in Bulgarien’ by Buresch & Tuleschkow (1929—1930) is quite out of date, and as far as it concerns the so called ‘common’ species totally incomplete. Several species were reported as ‘new’ for the Bulgarian fauna in the next 70 years and additional data about their distribution were accumulated for many others. Then, in 2001, came out ‘An Atlas of the Distribution of the Butterflies in Bulgaria’ (Abadjiev, 2001b), presenting the species distribution using UTM maps. Additional, mostly newly collected, data has been added, too. Presently it has been estimated that the Bulgarian butterfly fauna comprises 214 species, which is a relatively great number for the small territory of the country. These include some migrants like Gonepteryx cleopatra (Linnaeus, 1767) and Nymphalis vaualbum ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), known by single records and with no permanent colonies established. Twelve species, previously published, have been excluded from the list of Bulgarian butterflies: Pyrgus cirsii (Rambur, [1839]) has been excluded after the absence of material; Archon apollinus (Herbst, 1798) due to the improper observation and absence of material; Leptidea morsei Fenton, 1881 due to the incorrect determination; Colias chrysotheme (Esper, [1781]) after incorrect subsequent determination; Muschampia proto (Ochsenheimer, 1818), Lycaena thetis Klug, 1834, Chilades trochylus (Freyer, [1845]), Plebeius orbitulus (Prunner, 1798), Pseudochazara geyeri (Herrich-Schäffer, [1846]), Pseudochazara graeca (Staudinger, 1870) and Boloria titania (Esper, [1793]) after incorrect presumption of the material origin and Polyommatus eros (Ochsenheimer, 1808) after incorrect subsequent citation of published works in which Polyommatus eroides (Frivaldszky, 1835) has been treated as a subspecies of the last taxon. For several species, including Erynnis marloyi (Boisduval, [1843]), Spialia phlomidis (Herrich-Schäffer, [1845]), Zerynthia cerisy (Godart, [1824]), Colias caucasica Staudinger, 1871, Gonepteryx farinosa (Zeller, 1847), Euchloe penia (Freyer, [1851], Pieris krueperi Staudinger, 1860, Lycaena candens (Herrich-Schäffer, [1844]), etc., Bulgaria represents a significant part or a northern limit of the species ranges. All of them, together with numerous Balkan endemics (some at subspecies level), Parnassius apollo graecus Ziegler, 1901, Polyommatus nephohiptamenos (Brown & Coutsis, 1978), Erebia orientalis Elwes, 1900, E. alberganus phorcys (Freyer, 1836), E. rhodopensis Nicholl, 1900, E. gorge pirinica Buresch, 1918, E. pandrose ambicolorata Varga, 1971, Pseudochazara orestes De Prins & van der Poorten, 1981, Euphydryas cynthia leonhardi (Fruhstorfer, 1917), Boloria pales rilaensis Varga, 1971, etc., form the unique character of the Bulgarian butterfly fauna. Three species, Muschampia cribrellum (Eversmann, 1841), Pyrgus andromedae (Wallengren, 1853) and Colias myrmidone (Esper, [1781]), are known by museum specimens only. They need confirmation. For one species, Polyommatus damon ([Denis & Schiffermüller], 1775), there is no material from Bulgaria in the examined collections. It is also necessary to be mentioned that there are no new reliable records for Lopinga achine (Scopoli, 1763), Coenonympha oedippus (Fabricius, 1787) and Nymphalis xanthomelas (Esper, [1781]). Two species, Colias hyale (Linnaeus, 1758) and especially Leptidea reali Reissinger, 1990, are known each one from a single locality only, a fact which is known from incomplete research and which means that their distribution is probably wider. The same applies to Pieris balcana Lorkovic, [1970]. The species Colias erate (Esper, [1805]), which after active migration process, had been recorded in many sites in the middle of the eighties is now disappearing in a great part of them. For many species recent investigations, show that colonies are stable and that there is no tendency of declining. A cartographic system based on UTM grid has been used for the presentation of species distribution. This system is most frequently recommended and applied for illustration of distribution of invertebrates in Europe. For this purpose a map with an original UTM grid has been redrawn in a simple electronic form, suitable for illustration. Localities of the species have been mapped entirely by hand. Data for mapping have been obtained by literature sources, examination of collections, or by field research. Beside in many private collections, Bulgarian butterfly material has been examined from the rich holdings of the National Museum of Natural History and the Institute of Zoology, Sofia. Different localities have been named after the neighbouring settlements, mountain peaks, rivers, lakes, tourist chalets, etc. Collected information has been entered into a computer database (FileMaker Pro 8.5 of FileMaker, Inc.), verified and subsequently sorted. In the final scheme it has been found appropriate to include the species data in a text form alongside the maps. These data comprise UTM grid reference, locality and source, and are suitable for quick reference. The species of nature conservation concern (eg those listed in Appendix II of the Bern Convention, CITES, Red Data Books, protected by law in Bulgaria) have also been indicated. The butterfly classification generally follows those, used by Hesselbarth, van Oorschot & Wagener (1995).

Introduction