Leptosia xiphia

• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Description

Family Pieridae

'The Pieridae are members of the Superfamily Papilionoidea, the true butterflies. Worldwide in distribution, most species are found in the tropics. Adults have medium to small wings that are white, yellow, or orange, with some black or red, and many have hidden ultraviolet patterns that are used in courtship . Species with more than one generation usually have distinct seasonal variation in appearance . Adults of all species visit flowers for nectar, and adults of both sexes have three pairs of walking legs . Males patrol in search of receptive mates, and females lay columnar eggs on leaves, buds, and stems. The majority of caterpillars of North American whites and sulphurs feed on legumes or crucifers (members of the Mustard family ). Typically, temperate species overwinter in the pupal or larval stage , while tropical species overwinter as adults.

'[1]

Subfamily Pierinae

Whites, marbles, and orangetips are members of the Family Pieridae. In North America, 31 species are included . Adults of most species are predominantly white above with some black pattern elements , and their hindwings often have a pattern of yellow and black scales that appear green. Sexes of most species are only slightly dimorphic , though male orangetips have bright orange wingtips. Nearly all adults are avid flower visitors. The males of almost all North American species patrol open, sunny habitats for females, although males of some tropical whites (e.g. Mexican Dartwhite) perch along ravines . Caterpillars of most western whites feed on mustards, though some use capers and others, pineneedles. All species overwinter in the chrysalis stage, and some orangetips and marbles may pass several unfavorable years in the chrysalis stage before hatching .[2]

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Provisionally Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Beccaloni G.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Leptosia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 0 species and subspecies in this genus:

More Info

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Further Reading

• A handbook to the order Lepidoptera. By W. F. Kirby. London, E. Lloyd, limited, 1896-1897. url .
• Bulletin of the Hill Museum: a magazine of lepidopterology; Edited by J. J. Joicey. Issued at the Hill Museum, Wormley, Witley. London: John Bale, sons & Danielsson, 1921- url p. 525.
• Butterflies. Vol. I-II. / By Lieut.-Colonel C. T. Bingham. Calcutta and Simla, Taylor and Francis;1905-1907. url p. 135, p. 137, p. 138.
• Lepidoptera indica. By F. Moore. London, 1890-1913. url p. 113, p. 20.
• Observations on the gestation of some sharks and rays / Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1891. url p. 325.
• Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society url p. 31.
• Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta: [The Society]1865-1905. url p. 117, p. 118, p. 121.
• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url p. 616.
• Records of the Indian Museum. Calcutta: Pub. by order of the trustees of the Indian Museum, . 1907-1962. url , p. 359, p. 366, p. 45.
• Rhopalocera Malayana: a description of the butterflies of the Malay peninsula / by W.L. Distant. London: W.L. Distant, 1882-86. url , p. 288.
• Spolia zeylanica. S.l.: s.n. url , p. 126.
• The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology being a continuation of the Annals combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History. London, Taylor and Francis, Ltd. url p. 269.
• The Canadian entomologist. Ottawa [etc.]Entomological Society of Canada [etc.] url p. 132.
• The Entomologist's monthly magazine. Oxford [etc.]Entomologist's Monthly Magazine Ltd. [etc.] url , p. 82.
• The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay: The Society, url , , p. 112, p. 1145, p. 323, p. 362, p. 385, p. 443, p. 585, p. 669, p. 690, p. 721, p. 896.
• The University of Kansas science bulletin. 39 1958 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 312.
• The gazetteer of Sikhim. With an introduction by H.H. Risley. Ed. in the Bengal government secretariat. Calcutta: Printed at the Bengal secretariat press, 1894. url p. 165.
• Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland, Durham, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle-upon-Tyne [et al.]F. & W. Dodsworth [et al.]1865/67-1973. url p. 120.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 31, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 7708183
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Lep-178719.0
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1584851

Footnotes

1. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/taxonomy?f=15&sci=Pieridae&com=Whites and Sulphurs [back]
2. http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Creusa&search=Search [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.