4570_female_Rhône_12Apr07

16184_female_Rhône_15Jun09

2529_female_Var_9Jul06

Napi is closely related to the Mountain Green-veined White (P. bryoniae). For observations on the differences between these species, please see the napi page. Napi is polyvoltine (multiple brooded) with three broods per annum, and possibly a fourth.

observations

a first brood female, with the characteristic heavily suffused upf.

a summer brood female napi. I originally had this on the page for the Large White (P. brassicae) because that is what it clearly looked like, and I did not give it sufficient attention. The main reason for this, which I find surprising, is that I don't think I had previously seen a second generation female napi upperside, or at least, not knowingly. It is not a common species in Var. The dark apical mark looked good for brassicae as did the two black spots, and the absence of any real "green" or dusted veins. The illustration of second generation female napi in T&L shows the apical mark as rather fragmenting around veins 4-6 at the margins rather than the solid area as in 16184. However, the brassicae apical mark is solid black, whereas 16184 is rather greyer, and the brassicae apical mark is also smooth where it joins the costa, whereas 16184 has a pronounced "shoulder". 16184 also looks very clean and "white", but the lesson, for me at least, is always to look closely even if the ID seems obvious. Thanks to Tim Cowles for bringing this to my notice.

a female meridionalis of the summer brood. The unh ground colour is very pale creamy-white and the grey scaling around the cell area is very light.