| Bath White | |
|---|---|
| Bath White, Pontia daplidice in a garden in Darjeeling, India. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pieridae |
| Genus: | Pontia |
| Species: | P. daplidice |
| Binomial name | |
| Pontia daplidice (Linnaeus, 1758) |
|
The Bath White (Pontia daplidice) is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the Yellows and Whites, which occurs in the Palearctic region. It is common in central and southern Europe, migrating northwards every summer, often reaching southern Scandinavia and sometimes southern England.
Contents |
Description from Bingham, C. T (1907) The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Butterflies Volume 2.
- Male: Upperside: white. Forewing: basal half of costa narrowly irrorated with black scales, a broad irregular quadrate black spot over the discocellulars; apex and termen anteriorly, above vein 3 broadly black, with a subterminal series of spots of the ground colour, prolonged as fine lines to the terminal margin. Hindwing: uniform, the markings on the underside showing faintly through; a costal spot before the apex, and in some specimens, some obscure, anterior terminal markings indicated by irrorated black scaling. Underside: white. Forewing: the form of the markings as on the upperside but the base of the cell with an irroration of green scales, the black discocellular spot extended to the costa, often washed with green or with a green centre to the black; the apical patch green not black, with the spots of the ground-colour on it ill-defined and obscure; a black or greenish-black spot in the outer half of interspace 1. Hindwing: green; costal margin at base yellow; dorsal margin white; a spot in middle of cell, another above it in interspace 7, a curved irregular discal series of conjoined spots beyond the cell, of which the upper two spots in interspaces 1 to 6, white; the veins sometimes faintly yellow. Antennae dusky-black; head, thorax and abdomen fuscous black; beneath; head, thorax and abdomen white.
- Female: Upperside: differs as follows: Forewing: a dusky-black streak extends from the base along costa and terminates at the black spot on the discocellulars; a transverse, somewhat quadrate black spot in the outer half of interspace 1, with sometimes a short ill-defined black streak below it; the black area on apex and anterior portion of termen broader, the white spots on it blurred and obscure. Hindwing: a large costal black spot before apex; a broad, black, subterminal, inwardly diffuse, curved band in continuation of the same, and a terminal series of clavate black marks that start from the outer margin of the black subterminal band. Underside: markings much as in the male but broader. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male.
- Expanse: 52-56 mm
- Habitat: Within our limits; the Western Himalayas; Chitral; Ladakh; Kashmir; Baluchistan. Spread throughout Europe, Asia Minor, Persia and Afghanistan.
In South Asia, the Bath White ranges from Baluchistan, Peshawar, Chitral, Kashmir and along the Himalayas right across the Central Himalayas up to Darjeeling.
The butterfly appears to be extending its range westwards along the Himalayas.
In South Asia, the butterfly is known to be found in the Kashmir Valley and the plains of Peshawar in April.