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Pontia edusa

Pontia edusa


Family: Pieridae
Order: Lepidoptera
Class: Insecta
Phylum / Division: Arthropoda
Kingdom: Animalia

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Description


Pontia edusa, the eastern Bath white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.

 Pontia edusa is a small to medium-sized migrant butterfly, with a wingspan reaching about 45 mm. The upperside of the wings is white, with black stains on the top of the forewing and hindwing. The hindwing undersides have greenish-grey spots. The butterfly is nearly identical to Pontia daplidice, making the western extent of its range difficult to ascertain. Investigations of the genitals and DNA analysis are the only way to distinguish between these two types.

The adults fly from March to October with two to four generations depending on the latitude. The eggs are laid singly and have an incubation period of seven days. The caterpillars are present from May. They are greyish-greenish, with black dots and broad yellow stripes, quite similar to the larva of the cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae). The larvae feed on Resedaceae species. Pontia edusa hibernates in the chrysalis stage.

Distribution: It is found from the south east of Europe (southern France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia) up to central Europe and the Middle East in Iran and Iraq. It is a migrant which can also be encountered in Belgium, Holland, northern Germany and Poland, in the Baltic states and in southern Sweden and Norway.

Habitat: This species is found in any open grassy or flowery areas, in stony or rocky places and in roadsides, at altitudes up to 1500 m and occasionally higher. It is found especially where the host plants grow, at an altitude of .

Subspecies: 
  • P. e. edusa (Fabricius, 1777) (Finland and north east and south east Central Europe, Italy, Turkey, the Caucasus, Ukraine, Russia)
  • P. e. persica (Bienert, 1869) (Iran, Afghanistan)
  • P. e. nubicola (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (Turkestan)
  • P. e. amphimara (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (China (Szetschwan), Yunnan)
  • P. e. praeclara (Fruhstorfer, 1910) (south west China)
  • P. e. moorei (Röber, 1907) (Kashmir, Baluchistan, Tibet, Yunnan, south east China, Thailand)
  • P. e. avidia (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (southern China, ? Korea)
  • P. e. davendra (Hemming, 1934) (Siberia (Ussuri))

Source: Wikipedia, article Pontia edusa. Content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Accessed on 17/07/2026.





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Foto
Photography ID: 209933
  Adult

Pompeya
Nápoles
Italy
06/11/2017
Diego Alfonso Rosa



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Page 1
Record IDDateExact timeCountryProvince / departmentPlaceFilmedPhotographedRecorded vocalObservedHeardWounded or deadNumber of individualsUser or BibliographyDetail
59106911/06/2017ItalyNápolesPompeyaDiego Alfonso Rosa
Page 1

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Recommended citation
Please use the following reference when citing this species account.
EcoRegistros. 2026. Pontia edusa – Species account. Accessed from www.ecoregistros.org on 18/09/2026.