Second confirmed locality of Kirinia climene (Esper, [1783]) in Albania: Mount Pashtrik, with notes on its distribution in the Balkans and the Republic of Moldova.
Submitted: 10.vi.2026 | Accepted: 16.vi.2026 | Published online: 30.vi.2026.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18986391

Sylvain Cuvelier
0
Diamantstraat 4, B-8900 Ieper, Belgium. sylvain.cuvelier@telenet.be

Abstract
Kirinia climene (Esper, [1783]) is a rarely recorded Satyrinae butterfly distributed from the Middle East to the Balkans. In Albania, it was previously known from a historical record from Mount Pashtrik. In 2023, Cuvelier and Dincă reported the species near Lake Prespa, and here we add a second confirmed locality for Albania, based on a 2025 specimen from Mount Pashtrik (1.600 m a.s.l.), confirming its persistence after more than a century.
Its Balkan distribution remains fragmented, with strongholds in Serbia and northern Greece, and only historical records in Romania (Banat) and the Republic of Moldova.

Key words
Kirinia climene — Papilionoidea — Nymphalidae — Satyrinae — distribution — conservation — Mount Pashtrik — Albania — Balkans.

Introduction
Mount Pashtrik (Mali i Pashtrikut) is a limestone massif situated along the border between north-eastern Albania and south-western Kosovo, north of the Drin River and southeast of the Northern Albanian Alps. Part of the southern extension of the Dinaric Alps, it rises to 1.986 m between the White Drin valley in Kosovo and the Has region in Albania. South of Pashtrik lie Mount Koritnik (2.380 m), Djalica e Lumës (2.484 m), and the Korab range, including Mount Korab (2.764 m), the highest peak in Albania.
Geologically, Pashtrik consists mainly of Triassic and Jurassic limestones and dolomites, with well-developed karst features such as rocky outcrops, sinkholes, and fissures. Its rugged terrain supports a mosaic of habitats ranging from dry grasslands and shrublands to montane forests.
Located at the transition between Mediterranean and continental climatic zones, Mount Pashtrik harbours a rich biodiversity and numerous Balkan endemic and relict species, making it an important biodiversity hotspot in the Albania–Kosovo border region.
Kirinia climene (Esper, [1783]) has a distribution extending from the Middle East through Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to the Balkans (Tshikolovets 2011), where it is infrequently recorded and occupies geographically isolated habitats.
K. climene is a thermophilous woodland butterfly that typically inhabits open deciduous woodland, woodland edges, clearings and other ecotonal habitats with a well-developed herb layer. Adults are relatively sedentary and often remain within shaded woodland, where they can be difficult to detect. During hot weather, individuals frequently rest and bask on tree trunks, a behaviour that may further reduce their detectability. Field identification may also be hindered by its superficial resemblance to the much more common Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758), particularly when individuals are observed only briefly in flight. These ecological and behavioural characteristics likely contribute to the apparent rarity of K. climene and may explain why it is infrequently recorded even in suitable habitats. Consequently, the currently known distribution of the species in south-western Europe is probably incomplete, and the number of occupied localities may be underestimated owing to imperfect detectability rather than true absence.
In Rebel & Zerny (1931, p 75), a worn female of K. climene was reported from Albania, near Krumë on the south-western foothills of Mount Pashtrik (Fig. 1a). The specimen was collected by participants of the 1918 expedition, namely Penther, Predota and Zerny. Details of the locality were provided on page 46 of the original publication and are reproduced in Fig. 1b.

Subsequent faunistic studies from the Kosovar side of Mount Pashtrik (Jakšić 2007; Mustafa et al. 2015) did not record K. climene.
On 13 July 2022, Cuvelier and Dincă (Cuvelier et al. 2023) recorded several worn individuals of K. climene west of Liqeni i Prespës in Prespa National Park, establishing a second, geographically distant locality for the species in Albania. This population is continuous with adjacent populations in the Republic of North Macedonia. For a more comprehensive account of the occurrence and ecology of Kirinia climene in the Lake Prespa region, see (url).

Confirmed presence of Kirinia climene on Mount Pashtrik (2025)
On 27.vii.2025, a single worn specimen of K. climene (Esper, [1783]) was collected (Fig. 2a-b) at 1.600 m a.s.l. at 42.21N, 20.50E, at the forest edge between deciduous woodland and tall herbaceous grassland (Fig. 3-6). The activity was authorized under Permit No. 329/1 of 28.i.2025, issued by the Agjencia Kombëtare e Zonave të Mbrojtura, Drejtoria e Menaxhimit, Monitorimit dhe Regjistrit të Zonave të Mbrojtura. The specimen is currently deposited in the author's reference collection.
The most recent distribution map (Fig. 7) of K. climene in Albania is provided in Chronicles Fluturat e Shqipërisë (Cuvelier & Paparisto 2026), available at (url).

Fig. 2a-b. Upper- and underside of the collected K. climene. Mount Pashtrik, (Albania), 1.600 m a.s.l., 27.vii.2025. (Collector: Sylvain Cuvelier)

Fig. 3. View to Mount Pashtrik from Cabani, 27.vii.2025. (Photographer: Sylvain Cuvelier)
Fig. 4. View from 1.500 m a.s.l. on Mount Pashtrik, showing the higher-elevation habitat consisting of the forest edge between deciduous woodland and tall herbaceous grassland. (Photographer: Sylvain Cuvelier)

Fig. 5-6. Forest edge between deciduous woodland and tall herbaceous grassland at 1.600 m a.s.l. where K. climene was collected. (Photographer: Sylvain Cuvelier)

Fig. 7. Updated distribution map of K. climene in Albania.  Historical data  New observations since 2018. (Cuvelier & Paparisto 30.iv.2026)
Fig. 8. Distribution map of K. climene in Balkans and Republic of Moldova.
Green dot: confirmed K. climene on Mt. Pashtrik; pale yellow dots: Balkan records; red dots: historical but unconfirmed records from Romania and the Republic of Moldova. (Cuvelier 2026)

Notes on the distribution in the Balkans and the Republic of Moldova
Concerning the Republic of Moldova, since Miller & Zubowsky (1908), who reported Kirinia climene (Esper, [1783]) from Tighina (Bender, Bendery) in Bessarabia, now the Republic of Moldova, no further confirmed records of the species are known to the author.
In Romania, the situation is as follows. Most known specimens of Kirinia climene (Esper, 1783) from southern Banat (present-day Romania) were collected during the nineteenth century. The species was first reported from Mehadia by the Viennese entomologist Georg Dahl in 1822 (Rebel, 1911). Nearly all specimens currently preserved in the major European museum collections of Vienna, London, and Budapest predate 1900, with collection records from 1822, 1876, 1879, 1881, 1882, 1893, 1896, and 1897. These specimens originate from the collections of Dahl, Pavel, Fountaine, Viertl, Bohatsch, Reichel, Dahlström, and Tomala, and were collected at Băile Herculane, Muntele Domogled, Pecinișca, Orșova, Dealul Alion (Alion Hill), and Mehadia. During the same period, K. climene was also reported from Turnu Severin (Caradja 1895–1896). The most recent published records documenting the occurrence of K. climene in the Băile Herculane area date to 1910, based on observations reported by Keynes and Keynes (1911). Following these records, no further confirmed occurrences from the region appear to have been published for many decades.
Levente (2024) suggests that insect abundance has declined drastically in Romania, while species loss appears limited, with a possible maximum of around ten Lepidoptera species considered to have disappeared, including K. climene.
With regard to its distribution in Hungary, some confusion remains to be clarified. Gozmány (1968, p. 171) stated that K. climene does not occur in the country, whereas Higgins & Riley (1970, p. 270) reported the species from eastern Hungary. However, this most likely refers to older literature in which localities such as Siebenbürgen, the Banat frontier, Herculesbad, and Orsova were historically placed within eastern Hungary.
In Serbia, K. climene was previously known from only two localities prior to 2011. Durić & Popović (2011) subsequently added three additional records, and more recent surveys have further confirmed its occurrence in the country. Distribution data derived from GBIF and personal observations corroborate its presence in eastern Serbia, where suitable habitats appear to be widespread and currently not under threat, indicating that this region represents one of the European strongholds for the species.
For a long time, the occurrence of K. climene in Bulgaria remained doubtful or poorly documented. Essayan & Jugan (1993), provided the first well-documented records of K. climene in Bulgaria. Kolev (2003) confirmed its presence by documenting two localities and reviewing historical records. Since then, additional observations and records have helped to clarify its distribution and support its continued occurrence in the country. In Bulgaria, adjacent areas along the Serbian border also harbour records of K. climene, with additional isolated occurrences near the Greek border and in the Sinite Kamûni massif north of Sliven.
A recent record in Observado, dated 08.vi.2019, from a lowland locality (<200 m a.s.l.) in the Haskovo District (south-eastern Bulgaria) lies considerably outside the currently confirmed range of the species in Bulgaria. However, in the absence of photographic documentation and given the atypically low-altitude habitat, this record should be treated with caution and regarded as requiring confirmation. For this reason, it was not included in Fig. 8.
In Greece, the species was first recorded by Willemse (1977) from the Trikala district. Current distribution data kindly provided by L. Pamperis, and based on coarse 10 × 10 km grid records, indicate that the northern Pindos region represents a second major European stronghold for K. climene, with additional isolated populations occurring further south in the Pindos and in north-eastern Greece.
Schaider & Jakšić (1989) presented a distribution map of K. climene indicating only five disjunct localities. In the Republic of North Macedonia, the species is known from a small number of isolated records and has been reported only sporadically, although it appears to occur more consistently in border regions adjacent to Greece and Albania, particularly in the wider Lake Prespa area.
As noted in this study, K. climene has not been recorded from the Kosovar side of Mount Pashtrik or from the country as a whole. However, the presence of similar habitats on the Kosovar side of the massif makes its occurrence in Kosovo highly plausible, at least in this area.
Based on published sources, database records, personal observations, and the present study, a distribution map (Fig. 8) was compiled to illustrate the overall range of K. climene in the Balkans and the Republic of Moldova. The confirmed locality on Mount Pashtrik is indicated by a green dot. Pale yellow dots represent other records from the Balkans derived from GBIF, Observado, published references, personal observations and information provided by L. Pamperis. Red dots denote historical but unconfirmed records from Romania and the Republic of Moldova, supplied by Székely Levente.

Conclusions
Kirinia climene (Esper, [1783]) is confirmed as an extant component of the Albanian fauna based on two recent records: a first recent observation near Lake Prespa in 2023 and a second locality on Mount Pashtrik in 2025, the latter confirming persistence at the historical site after more than a century. In the most recent Albanian Red List (url), the species is classified as Vulnerable (VU), reflecting the fact that, despite surveys conducted during the optimal flight period, additional localities have proven difficult to detect. Occurring at the western margin of its distribution in Albania, K. climene is considered particularly susceptible to local environmental conditions and the potential impacts of climate change.
Given the continuity of suitable habitat across the border, the occurrence of K. climene on the Kosovar side of Mount Pashtrik would not be unexpected.
The review of regional data shows a highly uneven distribution pattern across the Balkans, with strongholds in eastern Serbia and northern Greece, contrasted by fragmented or poorly documented populations in neighbouring regions. Historical records from Romania (Banat) and the Republic of Moldova lack recent confirmation, suggesting possible local extinction or severe under-recording. In contrast, populations in Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and parts of North Macedonia indicate that the species persists in suitable habitats across the southern Balkans, particularly in mountainous and karstic landscapes. Overall, the updated synthesis highlights both the persistence of K. climene in key refugial areas and substantial gaps in current knowledge, underlining the importance of continued faunistic surveys in the Balkans and adjacent regions.
Given the species' low detectability, resulting from its behaviour, habitat preferences and superficial resemblance to Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758), additional localities will likely be discovered in the Balkans. Likewise, hope remains that overlooked populations may yet be found in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Observado platform for providing open-access biodiversity data that significantly supported this study. We sincerely thank Székely Levente for sharing information on the distribution of Kirinia climene in Romania, and Lazaros Pamperis for valuable insights into its occurrence and distribution in Greece. We are also indebted to Michel Taymans for carefully reviewing an early draft of the manuscript and providing constructive comments that improved its clarity and quality. Finally, we sincerely thank Prof. Anila Paparisto (University of Tirana) for reviewing the final version of the manuscript and for her valuable suggestions, which improved the overall quality of the work.

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