Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Leptidea juvernica / Cryptic Wood White
Bardhoshja kriptike e drurit
Pieridae - Dismorphinae

Leptidea juvernica (Williams, 1946) TL: Ireland.

1a. Leptidea juvernica, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Habitat of Leptidea juvernica. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Leptidea juvernica ♂ underside. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1d. Leptidea juvernica ♂ underside. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Small butterfly. Fw: 19-24 mm.
Ups: white gc.
Upf: large grey angular marking (spring generation) extending along the cost, slightly reduced apical mark (summer generation)
Unh: marked obscure dark markings (spring generation), markings very limited (summer generation)
Antennal club: black with white patch beneath.
♀♀
Similar size.
Upf: apical marking pale grey striae (spring generation) or absent (summer generation)
Otherwise identical to ♂♂.

Similar species

Leptidea duponcheli Antenna: no white mark beneath the club. Upf: yellowish gc. Uph: yellowish gc. Unf: black costa. Unh: extensive grey markings (spring) Unh: yellowish flush/absent markings (summer) Leptidea sinapis There are no reliable external characters for identification between Leptidea juvernica and Leptidea sinapis (url) ♂♂ and ♀♀ genitalia are discriminating (url1, url2) COI-barcoding allows identification.

2. ♂♂ genitalia of two Leptidea juvernica specimens. Çerem, Albania (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Life cycle
Adults: probably two generations from June to August, if occuring at lower altudes (doubtflul) a third partial generation might be found.
Egg: short stage.
Caterpillar: short in laboratory conditions, probably short in natural environment, up to 5 weeks.
Pupa: probably short stage.

Habitat
Leptidea juvernica inhabits damp grassy areas in clearings and woodland edges, also recorded from wetland habitats, probably only at higher altitude as from 1500 m a.s.l., and can be found in the vicinity of L. sinapis.
Spatial requirement low, population density sometimes high.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed on Lathyrus sp., also mentioned are Coronilla varia, Lotus sp., Medicago sativa falcata and Viccia sp.
Butterflies feed on a variety of low flowers.

Distribution
Albania: found only once in N. Albania, at the southern limit of its distribution range in the Balkan peninsula.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA* - EEU
True distribution requires further study. Documented from Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Leptidea juvernica is at the southern limit of its European range in the Balkan peninsula.
Albanian Red List: DD.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC (as Leptidea reali)

Useful links
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps
(url) Dincă V., Lukhtanov V., Talavera G. & Vila R. 2011. Unexpected layers of cryptic diversity in Wood White Leptidea butterflies. — Nature Communications 2: 324.
(url1, url2) Shtinkov N., Kolev Z., Vila R. & Dincă V. 2015. The sibling species Leptidea juvernica and L. sinapis (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) in the Balkan Peninsula: ecology, genetic structure, and morphological variation. — Zoology.
(url) Cuvelier S. & Maertens D. 2017. Trial test of external morphology-based identification of Leptidea sinapis, L. reali and L. juvernica (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) provides opportunity for an online identification platform. — Phegea 45(2): 41-45.

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