A new butterfly species from south Russia revealed through chromosomal and molecular analysis of the Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damonides complex (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae).

Finding a new species is a rare event in easy-to-see and well-studied organisms like butterflies, especially if they inhabit well-explored areas such as the Western Palaearctic. However, even in this region, gaps in taxonomic knowledge still exist and here we report such a discovery. Using a combined analysis of chromosomal and molecular markers we demonstrate that blue populations from Daghestan (South Russia), previously identified as , represent in fact a new species which is described here as We also show that the enigmatic described as a form of and later considered as an entity similar to or is conspecific with a taxon previously known as . As a result of our study, we propose several taxonomic changes within the species complex and suggest the following new combinations: Forster, 1956, and Eckweiler, 2002,