Pieris ochsenheimeri ochsenheimeri Staudinger, 1886

Pieris ochsenheimeri Staudinger, 1886; Stett. Ent. Ztg. 42: 199; TL: "Alai Mont." [Namangan, Uzbekistan] (original description)

Description.

Small in size. Both wings white on the upperside, and underside whitish or yellowish. Male (Fig. 11A): costal margin black; apical spot blackish, triangular, extending along veins to outer margin and sometimes partly merging apically. The 1st discal spot and outer spot distinct on both upperside and underside, while the 2nd discal spot only faintly present on the underside and the 3rd discal spot absent. Outer margin border of hindwings more or less blackish, sometimes triangularly extending along veins. Female (Fig. 11B): both wings intensive brownish or grey suffusion on the upperside, but clearly white in the apical half of discocell on the upperside of forewings. Outer margin border of hindwings blackish, sometimes with dark powered along veins. It should be also noted that there is another subspecies (i. e., P. ochsenheimeri gerhardi Eitschberger, 1983 which is mainly distributed in Peter I range in Tajikistan), that can be clearly identified as a subspecies of P. ochsenheimeri and will not be confused with other taxa. As we mainly focus on taxa that are easily confused with Chinese species, after confirming that P. ochsenheimeri does not occur in China, we will not further discuss ssp. Pieris ochsenheimeri gerhardi here.

Distribution.

Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan (Ghissar, Alai, western Tian-Shan).

Phenology.

Unknown but occurs in June and July.

Male genitalia.

(Fig. 5B) basal part of uncus almost as wide as terminal part of tegumen; uncus broad and moderately convex at its median part, apical half of uncus finger-shaped.

Female genitalia.

Not examined.

Note.

This species can be easily distinguished from others (except P. narina) by the relatively smaller size and the unique blackish markings on costal margin, apical spot of forewings and also outer margin border of hindwings on the upperside of males. While it can be distinguished from P. narina by the underside wing color ( P. ochsenheimeri could be whitish or yellowish but P. narina always yellowish) and the males differ from P. narina by having the 1st discal spot distinct on the upperside (in P. narina absent or rather faint); females can be distinguished from P. narina by having forewing discocell clearly white in the apical half on the upperside (in P. narina completely brownish dusted or apically less than 1/3 whitish) and dark powder is usually less developed in P. ochsenheimeri compared to P. narina on the upperside.