Madeiran large white

Madeiran large white
Madeiran Large White (female)
Conservation status
Critically endangered, possibly extinct (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Genus:	Pieris
Species:	P. brassicae
Subspecies:	P. b. wollastoni
Trinomial name
Pieris brassicae wollastoni Butler, 1886
Synonyms
Pieris wollastoni Pieris cheiranti wollastoni

The Madeiran large white (Pieris brassicae wollastoni) is a subspecies of the large white, endemic to Madeira. It can reach a size from 55 to 65 millimetres. The wings are pure white with a wide black tip on the apexes of the forewings. Its natural habitat is the laurisilva laurel forest. Considering that it was last collected in 1977 but not found despite a 15-year survey during the 1980s and 1990s it might be either extremely rare or possibly extinct. One reason for its decline might be a virus infection which brought out after the small white (Pieris rapae) was introduced to Madeira in the 1950s. The Latin name commemorates Thomas Vernon Wollaston, an entomologist who has discovered several insect taxa on Madeira.

Further reading

• Holt White, A. E. & Rashleigh (editors) (1894): The butterflies and moths of Teneriffe. Illustrated from the author's drawings. L. Reeve & Co., London
• Gardiner, B. (2003) The possible cause of extinction of Pieris brassicae wollastoni Butler (Lepidoptera: Pieridae). Entomologist's Gazette 54:267–268

External links

• Large White
• Man drives butterfly into extinction and it could be bad news for us too