Pontia Callidice
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''Pontia callidice'', the lofty Bath white or peak white, is a small
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 ...
of the yellows and whites 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 ...
), which occurs in the
Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The ...
.


Description

Description from
Charles Thomas Bingham Charles Thomas Bingham (16 April 1848 – 18 October 1908) was an Irish military officer and entomologist. Bingham was born in India of an old Irish family, and he was educated in Ireland.Kirby, W.F , 1909 Obituary correction ''Entomologists mo ...
's (1907) ''
The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma ''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books t ...
, Butterflies'', Volume II, pp 178–179. ''Pieris callidice''
(=''Pieris kalora'', Moore, P.Z.S. 1865:449)


Male

* ''Upperside'': white **Forewing: black at extreme bases of interspaces 1a and 1 and of cell; discocellulars marked with a quadrate black spot; a discal curved series of inwardly dentate spots, the spots in interspaces 1 and 2 generally reduced to a mere trace, often absent; an anterior terminal series of similar but more clearly defined spots at the apices of veins 3 to 7. **Hindwing: uniform, the pattern of the underside visible through transparency; base densely irrorated (sprinkled) with black scales. * ''Underside'' **Forewing: white; basal half of costal margin and quadrate spot on discocellulars dull black; a discal curved series of four black spots in interspaces 1, 3, 5 and 6, followed by elongate streaks of green along veins 3 to 7 that extend to the termen. **Hindwing: green, an elongate oval yellowish-white spot in cell, followed beyond by complete curved series of discal and terminal yellowish-white, inwardly lanceolate spots. Antennae black, spotted with white, head fuscous grey, thorax blackish grey, abdomen black with more or less sparse white scaling; beneath: head, thorax and abdomen white.


Female

* ''Upperside'' Similar to that of the male, the black scaling at the base of the wings more extended, especially on the hindwing where it stretches broadly down the dorsal half of the wing and occupies also the apex of the cell. **Forewing: the irroration of black scales along the basal half of the costal margin and discocellular quadrate black spot as in the male, the latter, however, broader; the apex and terminal third of the wing above vein 2 dusky black, with a series of elongate white spots in the interspaces, the inner margin of the black area curved but very jagged; lastly, a geminate (paired) transverse black spot in the outer half of interspace 1. **Hindwing: a terminal series of large, inwardly acute pointed, black spots with oval white centres and a large costal black spot before the apex. * ''Underside'' **Forewing: the ground colour and markings are much as in the male, but the green on the apex and termen are more extended, the white streaks that traverse it are longer; the black discal spots in interspaces 5 and 6 are absent. **Hindwing: similar to that of the male, but the yellowish-white lanceolate spots narrower and smaller. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. In both sexes the antennae are not generally typical, the club abrupt, shorter, and broader. Wingspan: 53–60 mm.


Range

Within India, it occurs in the north-western Himalayas above from Chitral to Mussoorie. It also occurs in the higher mountains of Europe, in Asia from the Altai to the Himalayas, and in China. (Bingham, 1907)


Habitat

It lives at high altitude in alpine meadows, above the
tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...
.


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)


References

* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1399175 callidice Taxa named by Jacob Hübner Butterflies of Europe Butterflies of Indochina