Periphanes delphinii (Linnaeus, 1758)

Pl. 1, fig. 8; male genitalia Pl. 5, fig. 27; female genitalia Pl. 9, fig. 43.

Phalaena (Noctua) delphinii Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat. Ed. 10, 1: 518 (TL.: [Europe]).

Synonymy: Chariclea darollesi Oberthür, 1876

References: Bienert 1870; Barou 1967 (Chariclea Delphinii); Kalali 1976; Modarres Awal 1994, 1997 (Periphanes delphinii darallesi); Hacker 1990 (Periphanes delphinii delphinii); Hacker 2001; Ebert & Hacker 2002 (Periphanes delphinii).

Systematic notes: Represented in Iran by subspecies tekke L.Ronkay, Varga & Hreblay, 1998.

Bionomics: Bivoltine; univoltine according to Hacker (2001) and Kravchenko et al. (2005). Flight period: April to August The species inhabits vegetation-rich steppe habitats on elevations from sea level up to 2500 m. The early stages have been described by Hampson (1903), Spuler (1908), Forster & Wohlfahrt (1971) and Bretherton et al. (1979). Larvae feed on flowers and seeds of species of Consolida ajacis and Aconitum napellus.

Distribution: Mediterranean-Asiatic. Central and South Europe, North Africa, Near East, Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia. – In Iran (Pl. 10, fig. 56) occurs in provinces West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardebil, Mazandaran, Golestan, Tehran, Hamedan and Fars.

Material examined: 22 specimens from provinces West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardebil, Mazandaran, Golestan, Tehran, Hamedan and Fars, collected between 12.IV to 20.VIII on elevations from 0 to 2500 m