Euphydryas orientalis
Euphydryas orientalis is a small butterfly found in the Palearctic that belongs to the browns family. Description
Difficult to distinguish from some aurinia forms.Tusov treats orientalis as a subspecies
of Arinia 

Seitz- orientalis H.-Schaff. (65d) is apparently a combination of the two previous [subspecies of aurinia- pellucida Christ. [E. aurinia pellucida (Christoph, 1893)], from the Caucasus (recognizable by the thin scaling, in consequence  of which all the colours appear paler and the wings slightly transparent. The markings, however, are as abundant as the colours are weak and inconspicuous) 

and laeta Christ [E. aurinia laeta (Christoph, 1893)]( differs from the preceding in the denser  scaling and more conspicuous colours, the upperside having a rather chequered appearance in consequence  of the strongly developed and several times curved black discal bands; from the Vilui Mts. in Siberia]  

the upperside being as bright  and variegated as in laeta, while the underside is as pale, dull and uniform in colour as in pellucida. Asia Minor  and Armenia to Kurdistan. Subspecies
E. o. orientalis Turkey, Transcaucasia  65d on plate
E. o. sareptensis (Staudinger, 1878)  South Ural 65d on plate
E. o. emba (Fruhstorfer, 1917)   Kazakhstan
E.o. pellucida (Christoph, 1893)  Euphydryas aurinia pellucida (Christoph, 1893)in some works. Caucasus

Taxonomy
E. orientalis is in the subgenus Eurodryas The clade members are:
 Euphydryas aurinia (Rottemburg, 1775)
 Euphydryas provincialis (Boisduval, 1828) 
 Euphydryas orientalis (Herrich-Schäffer, 1851)
 Euphydryas asiatica (Staudinger, 1881) 
 Euphydryas sibirica (Staudinger, 1871) 
 Euphydryas laeta (Christoph, 1893)
 Euphydryas desfontainii (Godart, 1819)

Biology
Found in Steppe meadows and in limestone ravines. Flies from June to July. The larva feeds on Scabiosa isetensis. Similar speciesEuphydryas auriniaEuphydryas asiaticaEuphydryas provincialisEuphydryas merope synonym of Euphydryas aurinia merope'' (de Prunner, 1798)

See also
List of butterflies of Europe

References

External links
Russian Insects

Euphydryas
Butterflies described in 1851
Palearctic Lepidoptera