Cryptic Wood White Butterfly - Leptidea juvernica

Phylum: Arthropoda - Class: Insecta - Order: Lepidoptera - Family: Pieridae

Female Cryptic) Wood White butterfly

This delicate little butterfly is found in open grassland rather than in the woodland areas that are favoured by its close relative the Wood White.

Description

The Cryptic Wood White is almost identical to the Wood White, and only in recent years have experts determined that L. juvernica is indeed a distinct species in its own right. The wings have grey tips, darker in the males, while the creamy-white undersides of both forewings and hindwings have poorly-delineated grey veins. The wingspan of both males and females is typically 4.2cm, and the wings are noticeably more rounded than those of most other members of the Pieridae. These slow-flying butterflies always rest with their wings held in the closed position.

Habitat

Open grassland, disused quarries, scrub and hedgerows.

Distribution

The Cryptic Wood White is known to breed in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland (but not in the Burren!), and it is not known from England, Scotland or Wales. On the European mainland this species is known to ocur in France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Baltic States.

Lifecycle

Larval foodplants used by the Cryptic Wood White include various members of the pea family (Fabaceae), such as Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca, and Lesser Birds-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus.

In Northern Ireland this butterfly is bivoltine (having two broods), with the first adults on the wing during June and July; a later brood emerges in late September and early October.

Acknowledgements

This page includes pictures kindly contributed by Iris Millar.

Studying butterflies and moths...

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