Madeiran large white

Madeiran large white
Madeiran Large White (female)

Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Genus: Pieris
Species: P. brassicae
Subspecies: P. b. wollastoni
Trinomial name
Pieris brassicae wollastoni
Butler, 1886
Synonyms

Pieris wollastoni
Pieris cheiranti wollastoni

The Madeiran large white (Pieris brassicae wollastoni) is a subspecies of the large white, endemic to Madeira.[1] It can reach a size from 55 to 65 millimetres. The wings are pure white with a wide black tip on the apexes of the forewings. Its natural habitat is the laurisilva laurel forest.[2] Considering that it was last collected in 1977 but not found despite a 15-year survey during the 1980s and 1990s it might be either extremely rare or possibly extinct.[3] One reason for its decline might be a virus infection which brought out after the small white (Pieris rapae) was introduced to Madeira in the 1950s.[4] The Latin name commemorates Thomas Vernon Wollaston, an entomologist who has discovered several insect taxa on Madeira.

References

  1. ↑ John Feltwell: Large white butterfly: The Biology, Biochemistry and Physiology of Pieris Brassicae (Linnaeus). Springer, 1982 ISBN 90-6193-128-2
  2. ↑ Pieris brassicae wollastoni
  3. ↑ Man drives butterfly into extinction and it could be bad news for us too
  4. ↑ Gardiner, B. (2003) The possible cause of extinction of Pieris brassicae wollastoni Butler (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Entomologist's Gazette 54:267–268

Further reading


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