LEPIDOPTERA

• PIERIDAE Duponchel,1835

  • LEPTIDEA Billberg,1820

    
    

    • Leptidea morsei Fenton, 1881

Leptidea morsei morsei Fenton, 1881

• TYPE LOCALITY. "Yesso" [Hokkaido, Japan].

• RANGE. From E. Europe across Siberia to theMagadan and Ussuri regions; Mongolia, Korea, N. China and Japan.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The European part, W., central and S. Siberia -ssp. major Grund, 1905; Transbaikalia, the Far East, the Amur and Ussuri regions - the nominate subspecies; the Altai and Sayan - ssp. morseides Verity, 1911.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Humid meadows, sparse mixed forests and forest edges up to 2,000 m a. s.1. in the mountains. Flight period: April-August in two generations. Host plants (Lorkovic, 1947; Shirozu, Hara, 1969): Lathyrus spp.

• SIMILAR SPECIES. L. sinapis: UNH without dark transverse stripes; FW apex always rounded; in first generation males UPF apical spot more or less rounded and not divided by gray stripes along veins. L. amurensis: FW apex produced and acute, especially in second generation specimens; UNH without dark stripes, only with grayish dusting.

Photo and text: Guide to the BUTTERFLIES OF RUSSIA and adjacent territories Volume 1. PENSOFT, Sofia - Moscow. 1997