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LEPIDOPTERA

Pieris brassicae
Pieris brassicae brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758

• TYPE LOCALITY. Sweden.

• RANGE. N. Africa, Europe, Asia Minor to Middle Asia, W. and S. Siberia, Transbaikalia, the Amur and Ussuri regions, Mongolia, China, Japan.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. The European part, W. and S. Siberia, the Caucasus Major and Minor, the Armenian Highland, Talysh, the Altai and Sayan mts., Transbaikalia, the Amur and Ussuri regions - the nominate subspecies. In addition, the following subspecies can be recognized: ssp. marghanita Hemming, 1941 (= meridionalis Joicey et Talbot, 1922, nom. praeoccup.) - Kopet-Dagh; ssp. ottonis Rjiiber, [1907] (= brassicoides Staudinger, 1901, nom. praeoccup.) - Turan, Tian-Shan, Ghissar, S. Ghissar, Darvaz, Alai, the W. Pamirs.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Inhabiting most different types of open landscapes from fields and gardens to mountain meadows at 2,700 m a.s.1. Flight period: March-October in two to four generations. Pupa hibernating. Outbreaks are common, with particular damages to Brassica spp.

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