Hypolimnas misippus (Linnaeus, 1767) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in Cyprus and other records in the Eastern Mediterranean, an overlooked record and east Mediterranean butterfly migration corridors

Abstract

During preparation of the forthcoming volume, The Butterflies of the Levant Vol. III (Nymphalidae), a single male Hypolimnas misippus from the collection of Prof. Hanan BytinskiSalz, collected on the southern coast of Cyprus in August 1936, was found by the author among other H. misippus specimens in the butterfly collection of Tel Aviv University. This is the first and only known record of the Danaid Eggfly from the island and the seventh species addition to the Island's butterfly fauna since the early 1900s. The circumstances of this new record for Cyprus and other related records highlighting northern migration corridors from Africa and Arabia to the Levant and the S. Palaearctic region are elaborated on and discussed.