22939_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul10

8298_male_Valais, Switzerland_22Jul07

21883_female_Alpes-Maritimes_10Jul10

12206_female_Hautes-Alpes_8Jul08

22842_male_Valais, Switzerland_21Jul10

Bryoniae is a high altitude species closely related to the Green-veined White (P. napi). The bryoniae altitude range is a minimum of 1000m (Lafranchis says exceptionally 700m) but is normally found at much higher altitudes. Napi has an altitude range of 0-1800m so it cannot be assumed that any green-veined species seen at high altitudes is bryoniae. It is univoltine (single brooded) in France flying from mid-June to mid-August.

The male strongly resembles the first brood of the male napi. The bryoniae forewing is rather more pointed, the upf apical marks of bryoniae are rather more extensive than napi, but the key characteristic is that the uph veins of bryoniae are black where they reach the margins, not so for napi. The unh veins are heavily suffused grey, reaching to the margins, for bryoniae, and not for napi.

The female has a pale creamy ground colour and is heavily suffused grey to grey-brown. The upf has a grey streak connecting the margin to the post-discal spot, although the ones I have seen have been so heavily suffused, this has been hard to determine. The female is almost impossible to confuse with any other species, even a first brood female napi.

observations

a male, the black lining to the uph veins being quite apparent.

a male, with a suggestion of a post-discal spot in s3.

a female, relatively lightly suffused.

a female, more typically heavily suffused.

a male, rather battered but it does serve to illustrate that the veins are heavily suffused right to the margin.