Karst white butterfly
| Karst white butterfly | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Karst white butterfly ( Pieris mannii ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pieris mannii | ||||||||||||
| ( Mayer , 1851) |
The karst white butterfly ( Pieris mannii ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of white flies (Pieridae).
features
The moths have a wingspan of 40 to 46 millimeters. In the second generation of black Apikalfleck enough on the top of the front wing at the outer edge to the wing vein M3 or Cu1. On the upper side of the hind wings the costal spot is crescent-shaped and outwardly concave. The hind wing undersides are evenly covered with dark scales. The species can easily be confused with the small cabbage white butterfly ( Pieris rapae ). This also has dark undersides of the hind wings, especially in the spring generation. One can distinguish the two types on the basis of the apical and discal spot. The discal patch is rectangular and massive in the karst white butterfly, and round and small in the small cabbage white butterfly. The imaginary connecting line between it and the border of the apical spot on the outer edge of the wing runs obliquely in the similar species, and horizontally in the karst white butterfly. The apical spot in the karst white butterfly is strong and extensive, and unlike the similar species, it is somewhat stepped and also reaches the M3 wing vein. The wing tip of the karst white butterfly is more rounded than that of the similar species, and in the females there is a small spot (Posteromaculata spot) on the upper side of the hind wings, which occurs very rarely in the small cabbage white butterfly.
The nominate subspecies and P. mannii alpigena can be distinguished from the small cabbage white butterfly on the basis of these characteristics, especially in the second generation, the subspecies P. mannii rossii and P. mannii todaroana and especially P. mannii andegava are due to the weak expression of the characteristics described above difficult to define. It is the same with P. mannii hethaea . P. mannii roberti and P. mannii haroldi are easy to distinguish, P. mannii reskovitsi is similar to the nominate subspecies.
The karst white butterfly can be identified in the caterpillar stage, as the caterpillars have a black head capsule in the first and second stage.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in the Mediterranean region. They can be found from eastern Spain, through south-eastern France and the Rhone Valley to Valais . In Italy it occurs everywhere except in the Po Valley and on Sardinia . The distribution limit continues across the Lower Austrian Alps and the Bükk in Hungary, east to the Transcaucasus and northern Iraq. The species is still widespread in the west and south of the Balkan Peninsula from Slovenia to the Bosporus and the Peloponnese and Turkey. The occurrence in the Middle Atlas in Morocco is probably extinct. The species is about to expand its range. It is believed to have spread to south-east France and has been occurring in large numbers north of the Alps since 2008. The species is now distributed throughout Switzerland, with the exception of central Grisons and the southern Graubünden valleys, as well as in southern Germany and Vorarlberg.
The karst white butterfly occurs in dry, temperature-favored, rocky areas. It can be found, for example, on karst areas , rocky goat pastures and extensive, steep rocky terrain, including in forests. The species can be found from the lowlands to medium mountain ranges. It rises up to 1000 meters in the northern Alps, up to 1600 meters in the southern Alps and up to 2000 meters above sea level in southern Europe and Turkey. In the Mediterranean basin, the karst white butterfly also colonizes olive groves and vineyards with rocky soil as well as the edges of overgrown roads and footpaths that lead through bushes.
Way of life
The animals can often be found between trees and bushes. The last generation pupae overwinter.
Flight and caterpillar times
The karst white butterfly flies for two to at least five generations per year, depending on the altitude. In the lowlands of southern Europe it flies from the end of February to the beginning of November, in the high altitudes in the mountains from May to August. Only one generation occurs in Morocco from July to August.
Food of the caterpillars
As a food plants of the species in large parts of Italy and is Oberwallis the Blasenschötchen ( Alyssoides utriculata ) detected. Initially the fruit capsules are eaten, later, as with the other food plants, the leaves. From southern Calabria the species has been found on beach silverweed ( Lobularia maritima ), in southern France and in the eastern Pyrenees on grass-leaved cress ( Lepidium graminifolium ), Iberis linifolia , rock candytuft ( Iberis saxatilis ) and evergreen candytuft ( Iberis sempervirens ). In northeast Italy and the northwest Balkans, the caterpillars feed on narrow-leaved double seeds ( Diplotaxis tenuifolia ). In the north of the distribution area, the caterpillars are found in rock gardens on candytufts ( Iberis ), what they eat in western France, where they occur in heavily agricultural areas, is currently unknown.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Still: Butterflies and Caterpillars of Europe . 1st edition. Mosaik, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-572-01406-9 , p. 43 (Original title: Wild Guide Butterflies and Moths . Translated by Kerstin Mahlke).
- ↑ a b c d Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 , p. 29 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Karst white butterfly. Lepiforum eV, accessed on January 6, 2010 .
- ↑ Ziegler, H. (2009): On the repopulation of Northwestern Switzerland by Pieris mannii (Mayer, 1851) in the summer of 2008 (Lepidoptera, Pieridae). - Entomo Helvetica 2: 129–144 pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Pieris mannii alpigena VERITY, 1911. Heinz Ziegler: www.pieris.ch, accessed December 4, 2013 .
literature
- John Still: Butterflies and Caterpillars of Europe . 1st edition. Mosaik, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-572-01406-9 , p. 43 (Original title: Wild Guide Butterflies and Moths . Translated by Kerstin Mahlke).
- Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
