Gonepteryx cleopatra
Encyclopedia
Gonepteryx cleopatra is a medium sized butterfly
of the family Pieridae
that is native to the Mediterranean region (Southern Europe
, North Africa
and Anatolia
).
The species is divided into ten subspecies:
species - the female has pale yellow wings, the male is darker yellow with an orange patch on the forewing. Both sexes have brown dots in the center of each wing, and the underside of wings is light greenish yellow.
s. When the green caterpillars are prepared to pass to the pupal stage, they tie themselves through a silk belt to the host plant, on the underside of a leaf. The green chrysalis became gradually yellow and red, revealing the colours on the wings of the adult close to flutter.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
of the family Pieridae
Pieridae
The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...
that is native to the Mediterranean region (Southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
).
The species is divided into ten subspecies:
- Gonepteryx cleopatra cleopatra (Linnaeus, 1767) – North Africa, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,... - Gonepteryx cleopatra balearica Bubacek, 1920 – Balearic IslandsBalearic IslandsThe Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
- Gonepteryx cleopatra petronella De Freina, 1977 – IbizaIbizaIbiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...
- Gonepteryx cleopatra italica (Gerhardt, 1882) – ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, CorsicaCorsicaCorsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, SardiniaSardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],... - Gonepteryx cleopatra dalmatica Verity, 1908 – DalmatiaDalmatiaDalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n coast, western Balkan - Gonepteryx cleopatra citrina Sheljuzhko, 1925 – southern GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
- Gonepteryx cleopatra insularis Verity, 1909 – CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
- Gonepteryx cleopatra fiorii TuratiEmilio TuratiEmilio Turati Emilio Turati Emilio Turati (27 October 1858 – 23 September 1938 was an Italian entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He is not to be confused with Ernesto Turati and Gianfranco Turati....
& FioriAttilio FioriAttilio Fiori was an Italianentomologist who studied Lepidoptera.He wrote 1930 Lepidotteri di Rodi Mem. Soc. Ent. Ital., Vol. IX. 1930, pp. 196–214.with Emilio Turati....
, , 1930 – RhodesRhodesRhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within... - Gonepteryx cleopatra taurica (Staudinger, 1881) – AnatoliaAnatoliaAnatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
, SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the... - Gonepteryx cleopatra palmata Turati, 1921 – CyrenaicaCyrenaicaCyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...
, LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
Appearance
Gonepteryx cleopatra is a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 30 millimetres (1.2 in). It is a sexually dimorphicSexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
species - the female has pale yellow wings, the male is darker yellow with an orange patch on the forewing. Both sexes have brown dots in the center of each wing, and the underside of wings is light greenish yellow.
Ecology
The Cleopatra butterfly inhabits open woodland and scrub. The flight period is from May to August in most parts of its range, except Spain, where it is double-brooded and may fly almost all year. The adult hibernates in evergreen trees and shrubs. The caterpillars feed on buckthornBuckthorn
The Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae...
s. When the green caterpillars are prepared to pass to the pupal stage, they tie themselves through a silk belt to the host plant, on the underside of a leaf. The green chrysalis became gradually yellow and red, revealing the colours on the wings of the adult close to flutter.