Boloria frigga

[Kenelm Philip]

	European populations of _frigga_ are distinct, in having a "broad
band of pale spots on the underside of the secondaries", not only from
North American '_frigga_' but also from western Beringian _frigga_. I have
series from Chukotka which run very close to Alaskan _frigga gibsoni_ and
_alaskensis_, and in which that band of spots on the VHW is not pale. If
the holarctic range of '_frigga_' needs to be broken into more than one
species, one of the breaks will occur between Europe and eastern Asia, and
I doubt there will be a break at the Bering Straits. Whether taiga and
tundra _frigga_ in Alaska and the Yukon are the same species is another
problem. In Chukotka, the habitat for _frigga_ is identical to its habitat
in the Alaskan tundra, so I'm inclined to think the Beringian tundra
taxon is one species.

	I have not seen series from many sites in Europe--so I don't know
whether there is variation in the paleness of those VHW spots within
Europe. I might hesitate to split off an allopatric species based on such
a single character--but it would be interesting to know how the European
population (if consistent across Europe) grades into the Asian populations.

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu





 
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