247. Pieris erutae montana (The Green-veined White s.l.)

Number: 247

Family: Pieriidae
Sub-Family: Pieriinae

Species: Pieris erutae montana Verity, 1908
Common name(s): The Green-veined White (sensu lato, no particular name?)

Photography location: Ô Quy Hô pass (Tam Đường District, Lai Chau Prov.)

According to Monastyrskii & Devyatkin (2016), 4 Pieris species are known to occur in Vietnam viz. P. canidia canidia, P. rapae orientalis, P. erutae montana & P. brassicae nepalensis - the latter only recorded in the extreme northern corner of the country (Hoang Lien Son Mountain Range), the other three more widespread (but unrecorded from the South).

Poujade (1888) described P. erutae from Tibet. The subsp. montana was described by Verity from N.-E.India (Sikkim). This taxon is also present in Myanmar, N.Thailand, Laos, N. & C. Vietnam, S.China. It is very similar to Pieris melete which ranges from northern India, China (Tibet, Yunnan...) to Korea and Japan, and certain races of P. napi (widespread across Europe and Asia as far as Japan, but doesn't occur in the Oriental Region).

Below some photos of P. erutae montana taken at high-altitude vegetable gardens of ethnic minority people, where the caterpillars feed on family Cruciferae like cabbages.

 Male Pieris erutae montana, below Ô Quy Hô pass, 1800m asl (Tam Đường District, Lai Chau Prov., January 2017)
The greeny-grey veins on the underside are, in fact, an illusion created by a subtle combination of yellow and black scales

Male Pieris erutae montana, upperwing

Female Pieris erutae montana, upperwing

236. Pieris canidia canidia (The Indian Cabbage White)

Number: 236

Family: Pieriidae
Sub-Family: Pieriinae

Species: Pieris canidia canidia (Linnaeus, 1768)
Common name(s): The Indian Cabbage White 

Photography locations: Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc Prov.), Ba Vi (Hanoi)

There may be as many as 34 species of Pieris worldwide, although the status of some is uncertain. The genus can be divided into 2 groups - the 'Large' Whites brassicae, cheiranthi, deota & tadjika; and the smaller species including rapae, mannii, napi and canidia which have more rounded fore-wings. Some taxonomists place the latter group into a distinct genus Artogeia, citing characteristics including chromosome number, ovipositing behaviour and larval morphology.

According to Monastyrskii & Devyatkin (2016), 4 Pieris species are known to occur in Vietnam viz. P. canidia canidia, P. rapae orientalis, P. erutae montana & P. brassicae nepalensis - the latter only recorded in the extreme northern corner of the country (Lao Cai Prov.), the other three more widespread (but unrecorded from the South).

Pieris canidia ranges from India to Malaysia and north to Japan. I have seen this species from sea level to 2000m (Sa Pa), along corridors of ruderal vegetation in forest, agricultural fields or riverbanks, sometimes side by side with P. rapae or P. erutae.

Pieris canidia canidia on Bidens flower (Tam Dao foothills, March 2016, riverbank)

Female, upperside view (Ba Vi foothills, January 2017, agricultural field)
Female UpF with two black spots (only one in male) 

85. Pieris rapae orientalis (The Small Cabbage White)

Number: 85

Family: Pieriidae
Sub-Family: Pieriinae

Species: Pieris rapae orientalis Oberthür, 1880

Common name(s): The Small Cabbage White

Photography location : Hanoi

There may be as many as 34 species of Pieris worldwide, although the status of some is uncertain. The commonest and most widespread species is rapae, which was originally restricted to Europe and temperate Asia but has been introduced accidentally to North America, Africa, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
The caterpillar of this species is seen as a pest for agriculture.

Often seen flying year round in open glades, field edges, gardens, or along riverbanks. Both sexes visit a wide range of herbaceous flowers, fluttering from plant to plant and rarely settling for long

Pieris rapae is usually seen near vegetable fields where its caterpillar feed on family Cruciferae like cabbages

Pieris rapae courtship - female perched on the leaf

Male and female have both two discal spots on forewings (UpF). In Large Cabbage White (P. brassicae), male UpF without spots. In Indian Cabbage White (Pieris canidia), the hindwings border of both sexes have marginal black spots.

Matting pair - with a third individual (male) in flight