A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus Betula, in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus Betula contains 30 to 60 known taxa of which 11 are on the IUCN 2011 Red List of Threatened Species. They are a typically rather short-lived pioneer species widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in northern areas of temperate climates and in boreal climates.
Gagea is a large genus of spring flowers in the lily family. It is found primarily in Eurasia with a few species extending into North Africa and North America.
Leonurus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, naturalized in New Zealand, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and much of North and South America.
Alopecosa is a spider genus in the family Lycosidae, with about 160 species. They have a largely Eurasian distribution, although some species are found in North Africa and North America.
Ozyptila is a genus of crab spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1864. It has been misspelled as "Oxyptila" in multiple accounts.
The great rosefinch is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It is found in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and east to China. Its natural habitats are tundra and temperate grassland.
Hyles hippophaes, the seathorn hawk-moth, is a species of moth in the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1789.
Athamanthia is an Eastern Palearctic genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Athamanthia is differentiated from Lycaena by characters of the male genitalia.
Oeneis is a butterfly genus of the Satyrinae. All but one of its members are Arctic, sub-Arctic or high-altitude alpine in distribution. Some of the members of the genus are among the butterflies that can get along in the harshest climates of any butterflies. Four species in Europe, more are found in Arctic Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, Arctic North America and the Rocky Mountains. Curiously, there are no observations from Greenland. The development of most species takes two years.
South Central Siberia is a geographical region north of the point where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia come together.
Oeneis jutta, the Jutta Arctic or Baltic grayling, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Satyrinae with a Circumboreal distribution. It occurs in bogs and tundra in the north of Europe, the Baltic states, the Urals, Siberia, northern Kazakhstan, the Russian Far East, northern Mongolia, northeastern China, North Korea, and northern North America. Larvae feed on Carex and Eriophorum, possibly also Glyceria, Molinia, and Juncus. Ledum palustre is the preferred nectar plant of the adult butterflies. The species has one generation every one or two years, depending on the location.
Watsonarctia is a monotypic moth genus in the subfamily Arctiinae erected by Josef J. de Freina and Thomas Joseph Witt in 1984. Its only species, Watsonarctia deserta, the chaste pellicle, was first described by Max Bartel in 1902. It is found in central and south-eastern Europe, southern Russia, southern Siberia east to Lake Baikal; also in Asia Minor, Armenia, Azerbaijan, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrghyzstan and Xinjiang in China.
Neolycaena rhymnus is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Ukraine and southern and central Russia to the southern Ural mountains, Zauralye, the western and southern Altai Region, the Sayan mountains and Kazakhstan. Seitz gives this description - T. rhymnus Ev.. Tailless, the wings brown above and beneath. The underside irrorated with numerous white short dashes, which are partly placed in rows and partly irregularly dispersed. — In South Russia, South Siberia to the Altai, in May and June, on steppes.
Smerinthus kindermannii, the southern eyed hawkmoth, is a species of moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found throughout the central Palaearctic Region, from Turkey, Cyprus and Lebanon, east through Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and northern Pakistan to Kashmir. From there, north and north-east through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, to north-western China. It has also been reported from Israel and Kuwait.
Hemaris ducalis, the Pamir bee hawkmoth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from the mountains of south-western Xinjiang in China, the western Tian Shan, southern and eastern Kazakhstan up to the Altai Mountains, western Mongolia, southern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, northern Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Oeneis magna is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Ludwig Carl Friedrich Graeser in 1888. It is found from the Altai Mountains to southern Siberia and the Russian Far East, Mongolia, northern China and Korea. The habitat consists of sparse woodlands and mountain tundras.
Oeneis urda is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Eduard Friedrich Eversmann in 1847. It is found from Russia to northern Mongolia, north-eastern China and Korea. The habitat consists of steppe-clad slopes.
Gnaphosa is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804. They all have a serrated keel on the retromargin of each chelicera.
Oeneis polixenes, the Polixenes Arctic or Norique Alpin, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Satyrinae. It has a Circumpolar distribution occurring in northern parts of North America the Arctic Urals, Kamtchatka, Yakutia, Chukchi Peninsula, and northern Siberia.
