The "olive-green" Colias of Central Asia.

[trehopr1]

Here is the only extant example which I have of Colias wiskotti.
This male was procured from an aged collection from the decade of
the 1920's.

This is a remarkable species for its most unusual color -- that of "olive-green".

I really know nothing of the species itself so I cannot say how common, uncommon,
or restricted in range it may be. However, it sure is a "dandy" of a Colias and
every bit as large as our american version -- Colias eurytheme.

I'll take a good 15 to 20 of these anyday for their unusual color.

Again, any information about this species would be appreciated !

[nomihoudai]

You are off by 3000 miles. They do not occur in Europe but Central Asia. It's a nice species and I have a picture of it that I once displayed on a citizen science website.

[trehopr1]

Thank you for that regional correction nomihoudai.

I have corrected the title of my thread.

[radusho]

Only a nominate ssp. has this olive green colour in males. Other ssp. are orange, pale green, or dark orange. Females are extremely variable, basicly no 2 are the same

[bobw]

Radusho's right, only the nominate subspecies have this colour, most subspecies have orange males, with separata being pale yellow and draconis being red. They range all the way from Iran, through Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan. Females of all subspecies are orange or white. The most remarkable feature is the exceptionally wide black borders in the males.

If I find time I'll try to take some photos of my wiskotti drawers and post them.

[bobw]

This is my first drawer of Colias wiskotti. Sorry about the poor picture quality but it should give an idea of the variation between the different races.

[bobw]

And this is my other drawer.

[trehopr1]

Fantastic specimen drawers Bob !

A real pleasure seeing all the variation which occurs
in the species. Thank you for sharing this wonderful
assemblage with us.

[joachim]

HI, thanks for sharing, too!