''Delias aganippe'', the wood white or red-spotted Jezebel, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Levi ...

Distribution

This species is endemic to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. These butterflies can be found mainly in southern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Victoria,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and in the southern

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossle
Lepidoptera Larvae of Australia
/ref>

Description

''Delias aganippe'' can reach a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

of about . The upper surface of the wings shows a silver-grey color, with black margins and a row of white spots. Moreover the females have a round black spot in the middle of the forewinhìgs. In both sexes the under surface of the hindwings shows large yellow patches and subterminal bands of red spots. File: Delias aganippe (ento-csiro-au).jpg, Male of ''Delias aganippe''. Mounted specimen File: Pieridae - Delias aganippe.jpg, Female of ''Delias aganippe''. Upper and under sides File: Arthur Bartholomew - Wood White Butterfly, Delias aganippe - Google Art Project.jpg, Illustration of Wood White Butterfly

Biology

The caterpillars can reach a body length of about . They are at first pale brown with a black head, then they become completely black, with small white spots. They feed gregariously on Santalaceae (''

Exocarpos ''Exocarpos'' is a genus of flowering shrubs and small trees in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. They are found throughout Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. They are semi-parasitic, requiring the roots of a host tree, a tr ...

'', '' Santalum'' species) and

Loranthaceae Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are ''Nuytsia floribunda'' (the W ...

species ('' Amyema'' species).

References

Butterflies described in 1805

aganippe Aganippe (; Ancient Greek: Ἀγανίππη means 'mare who kills mercifully') was a name or epithet of several figures in Greek mythology: *Aganippe, a naiad of the spring Aganippe. *Aganippe, wife of King Acrisius of Argos, and according to so ...

{{Pieridae-stub