Leptidea juvernica

Cryptic wood white
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Leptidea
Species:	L. juvernica
Binomial name
Leptidea juvernica Williams 1946 [1]

Leptidea juvernica, the Cryptic wood white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.

Taxonomy

A 2011 study using karyotype analysis and analysis of mitochondrial nuclear DNA markers concluded that the complex of cryptic species that includes Leptidea sinapis and Leptidea reali also included a third, new species Leptidea juvernica. ^[1]

Distribution

L. juvernica ranges from Ireland and France in the west to Kazakhstan in the east. ^[1] The population in Ireland was formerly thought to be Leptidea reali , ^[2] but is now known to be L. juvernica. ^[3]

Appearance

It has been noted that specimens of L. juvernica from Ireland, originally thought to be L. sinapis , had a noticeably stronger green tinge. ^[4]

Gallery

• 
  Male specimen of L. juvernica from Ireland. The end of the abdomen has been removed to allow correct identification through the preparation of a genitalia mount.
• 
  Genitalia of a male specimen of L. juvernica from Ireland, under a microscope. The measurements shown beneath are diagnostic for the separation from L. sinapis.

References

1. Dincă, V., Lukhtanov, V. A., Talavera, G., Vila, R. (24 May 2011). "Unexpected layers of cryptic diversity in wood white Leptidea butterflies". Nature Communications. 2 (1) 324. Bibcode:2011NatCo...2..324D. doi:10.1038/ncomms1329. ISSN   2041-1723. PMID   21610727.
2. "Réal's Wood White". National Museums Northern Ireland . Retrieved 22 June 2010.
3. Nelson, B., Hughes, M. (2011). "The distribution of Leptidea sinapis (Linnaeus, 1758) and L. reali Reissinger, 1989 (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) in Ireland". Entomologist's Gazette. 62: 213–233.
4. Thomas, Jeremy (1986). Royal Society for Nature Conservation guide to butterflies of the British Isles. Sevenoaks, Kent: Newnes Books. p. 58. ISBN   0600351904.

External links

• Butterfly Conservation Ireland Summary of the sinapis cryptic species complex.