Pontia edusa

• Subfamily: Pierinae - Pierini
• Wingspan: 35-50 mm
• Flight period: Feb - Oct
• Spread: Common
• Host plants: Brassicaceae - Resedaceae

Information

The Pontia edusa also known as is a medium-sized butterfly of the Pieridae family with a wingspan of 35-50 mm. It is distributed in most of Europe, but is absent from the Iberian Peninsula, from France (present only in the southern area), and from the United Kingdom (present in Ireland) to the east it can be found in the Middle East in Iran and Iraq. In Italy it is distributed practically everywhere unlike the Pontia daplidice which can only be found in Sardinia and central western Liguria where it replaces the Pontia edusa . In the province of Alessandria, Pontia edusa is hybrid with Pontia daplidice .

The upper part of the wings is white, with black spots in both the front and rear wings. The underside of the hind wings is speckled gray-green. The butterfly is almost identical to the Pontia daplidice and only the investigations of the genitals (using a microscope) allow the distinction between these two species. ***

With generations ranging from two to four, depending on latitude, adults fly from February to October. This species can be found in all open grassy or flowery areas, in stony and rocky places and roadsides, particularly where host plants grow, from the basal to the hilly level. The eggs are laid individually and have an incubation period of seven days. The caterpillars have been around since May. They are greyish-green, with black dots and broad yellow stripes, very similar to Pieris brassicae larva. Pontia edusa hibernates as a chrysalis.

The larvae feed on various species of Brassicaceae and Resedaceae, including Descurainia sophia and Reseda lutea.


* Lepidoptera mundi https://lepidoptera.eu/ - Fauna Europea https://fauna-eu.org/
** IUCN, Unione Mondiale per la Conservazione della Natura http://www.iucn.it/
*** Bestimmungshilfe für die in Europa nachgewiesenen Schmetterlingsarten - http://lepiforum.de/