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LEPIDOPTERA

Pieris pseudorapae suffusa Sheljuzhko, 1931

 Pieris pseudorapae

• TYPE LOCALITY. "La Syrie (Beyrouth)" [Beirut, Lebanon].

• RANGE. S. Europe to Turkey and Iran.

• DISTRIBUTION AND VARIATION. Represented by the following subspecies: ssp. suffusa Sheljuzhko, 1931 (= postsuffusa Eitschberger, 1983) - the Caucasus Minor, the Armenian Highland, Talysh, Kopet-Dagh; ssp. balcanica Lorkovic, 1968 - the S. European part; ssp. balcarica Wojtusiak et Niesiolowski, 1947 - the Caucasus Major.

• HABITATS AND BIOLOGY. Although sympatric occurrence of P. napi and P. pseudorapae is proved on the basis of morphological details, biological and ecological differences between these species are still not clear. At least their flight periods can be noted to coincide, and P. pseudorapae prefers more strongly xerophytic habitats. Host plant in Talysh and Armenia: Alliaria pentiolata (Danchenko, pers. comm.)

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