''Pieris ergane'', the mountain small white, is a butterfly of 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 ...

. It is found in Southern Europe,

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

Description in Seitz

he length of the forewings is 19–24 mm.P. ergane Hhn. (= narcaea Frr) (20 d), from South-East Europe and Asia Minor, is beneath devoid of black markings in male and female. The seasonal forms appear to differ only slightly; however, we have not been able to ascertain anything certain on that point. — ''longomaculata'' Rostagno is yellowish white above, the black spots of forewing are deeper in colour, larger, prolonged, the forewing beneath is straw- colour, with chrome -yellow apical spot, the hindwing beneath being also chrome -yellow. — In female ab. ''magnimaculata'' Rostagno the black spots are still more developed than in ''longomaculata'', while in male ab. ''semimaculata'' Rostagno the upperside of forewing, except the dark apical spot, is entirely white. These 3 forms have been observed in Central Italy. — Larva dull blue-green, head bluish green, the whole body dotted with numerous small black white-hairy warts, mouth-parts pale brown, the stigma-line represented on each segment only by a yellow spot, in which is situated the dark-brown-edged light brown stigma, thoracical legs coloured like the body, claws light brown,prolegs with light brown soles (Spuler). Julius Rober in Seitz, A. ed. Band 1: Abt. 1, ''Die Großschmetterlinge des palaearktischen Faunengebietes, Die palaearktischen Tagfalter'', 1909, 379 Seiten, mit 89 kolorierten Tafeln (3470 Figuren)

Biology

Adults are on wing from April to September in two to three generations The larvae feed on '' Aethionema saxatile'' and '' Aethionema orbiculatum''.

References

External links

LepsIt
ergane Butterflies described in 1828 Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Europe {{Pieridae-stub