A medium-small sized white butterfly with black tips to the forewing with two generations a year. The underside of the hindwing has grey markings in the first brood, which can appear quite yellowish in the second brood. It could be confused with butterflies in the genus Pieris. However, the wing shape is quite distinctive.
Woodlands, scrub.Â
Yellow Vetchling Lathyrus aphaca, Lathyrus grandiflorus (large pink/purple flowers), Tuberous Pea Lathyrus tuberosus - not on Corfu, Common Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus not on Corfu, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus pedunculatus. Anne Sordinas observed oviposition in Corfu, on a host plant identified by Gillian Elsom as possibly either Cytisus villosus and Chamaecytisus hirsutus.
This species flies weakly and rarely settles to rest. Wing shape and flight style make the Leptidea spp. easy to notice on the wing. They are also undertake unusual courstship, where the male uses his proboscis to engage the female in mating.Â
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Wood White submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 27/02/2023 | 24/11/2023 | 270 days |
2022 | 26/03/2022 | 04/11/2022 | 223 days |
2021 | 27/02/2021 | 18/10/2021 | 233 days |
Year | Number of observations |
---|---|
2023 | 717 |
2022 | 320 |
2021 | 119 |
Grand Total | 1156 |
The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023
The chart below shows flight data by month since 1st January 2021
For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.