Pieris napi bryonides Sheljuzhko, 1910 comb. rev.

Pieris napi var. bryonides Sheljuzhko, 1910; Rev. russ. ent. 9: 384; TL: "Umg. Dscharkent, Ili Geb." [Zharkent, Kazakhstan] (original description)

Pieris bryoniae bryonides; Eitschberger (1983): Herbipoliana 1(1-2): 122 (as subspecies of Pieris bryoniae ( Hübner, 1805))

Pieris bryoniae ab. heptopotamica Krulikovsky, 1904; Eitschberger (1983): Herbipoliana 1(1-2): 122 (nom. nud.)

Description.

Both wings white on the upperside, but pale yellowish to bright yellowish on the underside. Male (Fig. 11G): apical spot blackish or brownish, triangular, extending along veins to outer margin without merging. The 1st discal spot mostly distinct as rounded. The 2nd discal spot absent and the 3rd discal spot rather slightly developed on the upperside (the 2nd discal spot distinct on the underside). Outer spot on the hindwing rather faint or absent. Female (Fig. 11F, H): both wings moderately brownish or grey suffusion on the upperside, especially area around humeral angle of forewings. The 1st, 2nd and outer spot distinct, and the 3rd discal spot usually absent or faintly developed on the upperside, but only 1st and 2nd discal spot faintly present on the underside.

Distribution.

East Kazakhstan (N. Tian-Shan, Dzhungarsky Alatau)

Phenology.

Unknown but occurs from May to July

Male genitalia.

(Fig. 5E) terminal part of tegumen moderately sclerotised as almost lobe-shaped convex; basal part of uncus slightly narrower as terminal part of tegumen with its median part slightly convex, apical half of uncus digitation.

Female genitalia.

(Fig. 6C) posterior apophysis short and relatively robust, almost reaches the 8th tergum; inner distal of sterigma lobe-shaped, almost contact in the centre; inner basal of sterigma without distinct convex, smoothly connect in the basal margin; signum cordiform shaped, short and slender, smoothly tapering to the basal.

Note.

This taxon was formerly considered as a subspecies of P. bryoniae by Eitschberger (1983) as the "females strongly resembled the summer generations of southern alpine Pieris bryoniae .". Our phylogenetic results indicate that this taxon is distantly separated from P. bryoniae wolfsbergeri from the Alps but is more closely related to P. napi. Although the only description given to this taxon originally was "female which are very grey (powdered).", based on the Neotype, as both wings are grey-powdered on the upperside, it is rather cleanly-whitish when compared to P. bryoniae wolfsbergeri and other subspecies. Combined with our molecular results, we believe that this taxon is more appropriately classified as a subspecies of P. napi .