Pontia daplidice

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Pontia daplidice
Pontia daplidice

Pontia daplidice

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Whitelings (Pieridae)
Subfamily : True whiteflies (Pierinae)
Genre : Pontia
Type : Pontia daplidice
Scientific name
Pontia daplidice
( Linnaeus , 1758)
Upper side of the wing (from Hübner : Collection of European Butterflies)

Pontia daplidice , also Western Reseda White , is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the white flies (Pieridae). Thespecific epithet is derived from Daplidice, one of the fifty daughters of Danaos from Greek mythology .

description

butterfly

Pontia daplidice is a small to medium-sized butterfly that differs from most other whites by its green-gray spots on the underside of the hind wings . It has a wingspan of up to 50 millimeters. At the tips of the forewing upper side it is shaded dark gray and it has a large, almost square spot in the middle. There are numerous black spots on the hind wings, which make them look marbled. The underside of the drawing is olive green only here. Females are generally larger and more marbled on the hind wings. A similar pattern can be found in the aurora butterfly , but much more divided, and in the Alpine whitefly ( Pontia callidice ), where it follows the veining. It is habitually indistinguishable from the Reseda butterfly ( Pontia edusa ). Genital examinations are the only way to tell the difference between these two types.

Caterpillar

The caterpillars have a slender green to blue-gray body with yellow stripes on the back and sides. There are between 8 and 10 black point warts on each ring segment of the body. They grow up to 30 millimeters in size.

Similar species

Subspecies

Behavior and way of life

The moths are strong and fast fliers who undertake long hikes.

He trains several generations throughout the year. In Europe only from March to October and in late summer and autumn with more individuals.

Eggs are laid on the underside of the leaves of the forage plant.

The caterpillars hatch after 10 days and are fully grown after 4 weeks.

In the summer months, the pupae need about two weeks until the moths hatch, the autumn pupae overwinter, but only survive north of the Alps in warm areas or mild winters.

The caterpillars feed on Reseda plants (Resedaceae) and cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae) such as. B. Rockcress ( Arabis ).

distribution and habitat

Pontia daplidice occurs mainly in southwest Europe , North Africa , the Canary Islands (except Lanzarote ). As a migratory butterfly it is rarely found in Madeira , Mallorca and only very rarely in Central Europe (southern Upper Rhine Valley ). It occurs at altitudes of up to 2700 m, where it occurs particularly frequently in the south of its distribution area. In contrast to the Reseda butterfly, which can be detected in Central Europe , Italy and Southeast Europe up to the Asian region, it has no pronounced tendency to migrate . Both types occur in Austria.

He mainly inhabits open, flowering grasslands and meadows. You can also find it on roadsides, gardens and parks.

swell

literature

  • Heiko Bellmann : The new Kosmos butterfly guide. Butterflies, caterpillars and forage plants. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09330-1 .
  • Josef Settele, Roland Steiner, Rolf Reinhardt, Reinart Feldmann: Butterflies: The butterflies of Germany. Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2005, ISBN 3-8001-4167-1 .
  • Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: The butterflies of Europe and Northwest Africa. Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07573-7 .
  • Hans-Josef Weidemann: Butterflies: observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89440-115-X .
  • Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg, Volume 1: Butterfly I (Knight butterfly (Papilionidae), whitefly (Pieridae), noble butterfly (Nymphalidae)). Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3451-9 .
  • Elizabeth Balmer: Butterflies: Recognizing and Identifying. Parragon Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-4075-1203-7 , pp. 52-53

Individual proof

  1. ^ Arnold Spuler: The butterflies of Europe . tape 1 . E. Schweitzerbartsche Verlagbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 1908, p. 7 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Sauer's natural guide - The most beautiful caterpillars. Fauna-Verlag, 1992, ISBN 3-923010-19-2 .

Web links

Commons : Pontia daplidice  - album with pictures, videos and audio files