Madeiran large white

Madeiran large white
Madeiran Large White (female)
Conservation status
Critically endangered, possibly extinct  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Pieris
Species:	P. brassicae
Subspecies:	P. b. wollastoni
Trinomial name
Pieris brassicae wollastoni (Butler, 1886)
Synonyms
Ganoris wollastoni Butler, 1886 Pieris wollastoni Pieris cheiranthi wollastoni

The Madeiran large white (Pieris brassicae wollastoni) is a subspecies of the large white butterfly, endemic to Madeira.^[2] It was described by the English entomologist, Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1886.

Description

They can reach a size of 55 to 65 millimeters (2 to 2.5 inches). The wings are pure white with a wide black tip on the apexes of the forewings. Its natural habitat is the laurisilva laurel forest.^[3]

Larvae have yellow stripes on the upper part of the green body and has black lumps. Known food plants are nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea).^[4]

Decline

Considering that the butterfly was last collected in 1977, and not found since despite a 15-year survey during the 1980s and 1990s, it might be either extremely rare or possibly extinct.^[5]

The disappearance of this species coincides with the introduction, in the 1950s, of the small white butterfly (Pieris rapae). The mechanisms involved are not fully understood but a viral infection may be involved with the small white introducing a different strain of the granulosis virus, for which the Madeiran large white had no resistance. ^[6] Another reason may be the introduction of a widely introduced agricultural bioagent, the wasp parasitoid, Cotesia glomerata, which was found in the western Canary Islands in May 2006. It uses the Pieridae as a host and is commonly found where Pieridae species are in abundance.^[7]

Distribution

Endemic to Madeira and found in the northern valleys of the laurel forest.

Etymology

The scientific name commemorates Thomas Vernon Wollaston, an English entomologist who has discovered several insect taxa on Madeira.

Madeiran Large White (male)

References

1. van Swaay, C.; Wynhoff, I.; Verovnik, R.; Wiemers, M.; López Munguira, M.; Maes, D.; Sasic, M.; Verstrael, T.; Warren, M. & Settele, J. (2010). "Pieris wollastoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T39483A10240995. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-1.RLTS.T39483A10240995.en.
2. John Feltwell. Large white butterfly: The Biology, Biochemistry and Physiology of Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus). Springer, 1982 ISBN 90-6193-128-2
3. Pieris brassicae wollastoni Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Madeiran Large White Pieris brassicae wollastoni Butler, 1886". Madeira Birdwatching. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
5. Lewis Smith (3 November 2007). "Man drives butterfly into extinction and it could be bad news for us too". The Times.
6. Gardiner, B. (2003) The possible cause of extinction of Pieris brassicae wollastoni Butler (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Entomologist's Gazette 54:267–268
7. Lozan, Aurel I.; Monaghan, Michael T.; Spitzer, Karel; Jaroš, Josef; Žurovcová, Martina; Brož, Václav (2007-11-24). "DNA-based confirmation that the parasitic wasp Cotesia glomerata (Braconidae, Hymenoptera) is a new threat to endemic butterflies of the Canary Islands". Conservation Genetics. 9 (6): 1431–1437. doi:10.1007/s10592-007-9470-4. S2CID 35335862.

Further reading

• Holt White, A. E.; Holt White, Rashleigh (ed.) (1894) The butterflies and moths of Teneriffe. Illustrated from the author's drawings. L. Reeve & Co., London

External links

• Large White