''Issoria eugenia'' is a small

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

found in the East

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

that belongs to the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species ha ...

Subspecies

*''I. e. eugenia'' South Transbaikalia, Sayan *''I. e. vega'' (Christoph, 1889) Central Siberia, Russian Far East, Kamchatka *''I. e. '' (Bang-Haas, 1906) Altai, Sayan *''I. e. rhea'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1891) Tsingai, Gansu *''I. e. genia'' (Fruhstorfer, 1903) Sichuan, Shaanxi *''I. e. pulchella'' Huang, 2001 East Tibet *''I. e. tibetana'' Huang, 1998 West Tibet

Habitat

Occurs at elevation up to 3000 m.

Description from Seitz

''A. eugenia'' Ev. (= ''vega'' Christ.) (68e) is similar to the preceding ( A. gemmata Btlr.); above with the general characteristics of the other smaller species of ''Argynnis''; beneath like ''gemmata'' with abundant silver markings on the hindwing and in the apical area of the forewing, but the spots more rounded, the spot across the cell more tooth-like, the marginal spots not triangular but circular or ovate and a little removed from the edge. The ground-colour of the female is more greenish grey than reddish yellow. From South Siberia (Sajan, Irkutsk), Tibet (Hokow) and West China. — ''genia'' Fruhst.(68e) has the hindwing beneath paler, the silvery median spot across the cell is more produced distad, somewhat resembling in shape the same spot of ''gemmata''. The base of both wings above is much darker (brownish green in the female) and the black markings are stronger. From West China. — ''rhea'' Gr.-Grsh. has the same long silver-spot as ''genia'', but is brighter yellow above, the base of the wings being less dusted with black. Amdo. — ' Bang-H., from the central Altai, is paler and its markings are thinner. The female especially is lighter, and the black marginal band of the upperside is less prominent. Beneath the shorter silver-spot at once distinguished it from ''genia''. — Little is known of the habits of this species.Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

References

Issoria Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1847 Taxa named by Eduard Friedrich Eversmann {{Heliconiinae-stub