''Pieris canidia'', the Indian cabbage white,
[ is a ]butterfly
Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
in the family Pieridae
The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...
found in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
and Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
.Pieris rapae
''Pieris rapae'' is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small ca ...
'' is one of the most closely related species in the Pieridae.
Description
The male is white to pale cream on its upperside. The base of the forewing, the basal portion of the costa, and the base and upper margin of the cell have a scattering of black scales. It is black from the apex to about the middle of the terminal margin. On the latter the black extends for a very short distance triangularly along the veins. There is a round black spot in interspace 3. The hindwing has a subcostal black spot as in ''Pieris rapae
''Pieris rapae'' is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small ca ...
'' but is generally larger and more conspicuous, and a series of four or five terminal black spots that vary in size at the apices of the veins.[
Underside: the forewing is white; cell and costa are lightly irrorated (speckled) with black scales; apex is somewhat broadly tinged with ochraceous yellow. Interspaces 1, 3 and 5 have conspicuous subquadrate black spots; the spot in interspace 1 sometimes extends out of interspace 1. That in interspace 5 is ill-defined. Hindwing: from pale, almost white, to dark ochraceous, thickly irrorated all over (with the exception of a longitudinal streak in the cell, and in the darker specimens similar longitudinal streaks in the interspaces) with black scales; costa above vein 8 are chrome yellow. Antennae are black with minute white specks; the long hairs on the head and thorax are greenish grey; the abdomen is black. Beneath, the head, thorax and abdomen are white.][
The female is similar to the male on the underside, but the scattering of black scales is more prominent; the black on the apex and termen of the forewing and the black spots on the termen of the hindwing are broader and more extended inwards; on the forewing there is an additional spot in interspace 1, and both this and the spot in interspace 3 in many specimens are connected by a line of black scales along the veins to the outer black border; also the spot in interspace 1 often extends across vein 1 into the interspace below.]
Distribution
It lives in sub-Himalayan India and Pakistan from Chitral, Kashmir to Sikkim and Bhutan, from elevation; the hills of southern India; Assam; Upper Myanmar
Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including M ...
: the Shan States; extending to China.[
]
See also
*List of butterflies of India
The following is a list of the butterflies of India.
India has extremely diverse terrain, climate and vegetation, which comprises extremes of heat cold, desert and jungle, of low-lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, is ...
*List of butterflies of India (Pieridae)
This is a list of the pierid butterflies of India. It forms part of the full List of butterflies of India.
The family Pieridae, or the whites and yellows are a family of butterflies of moderate or small size. The common names refer to the two pre ...
Notes
References
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q1945533
Fauna of Pakistan
canidia
''Canidia'' is a genus of beetles in the family Cerambycidae, containing the following species:Bezark, Larry GA Photographic Catalog of the Cerambycidae of the World. Retrieved on 22 May 2012.
* ''Canidia canescens'' (Dillon, 1955)
* ''Canidia ...
Butterflies of Indochina
Butterflies described in 1768
Butterflies of Singapore
Taxa named by Anders Sparrman