| Madeiran large white butterfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Madeiran Large White (female) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pieridae |
| Genus: | Pieris |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | |
| Trinomial name | |
| †Pieris brassicae wollastoni (Butler, 1886) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
TheMadeiran large white (Pieris brassicae wollastoni) was asubspecies of thelarge white butterfly,endemic toMadeira.[2] It wasdescribed by the English entomologist,Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1886.
They can reach a size of 55 to 65 millimeters (2 to 2.5 inches). The wings are pure white with a wide black tip on the apexes of the forewings. Its naturalhabitat is thelaurisilvalaurel forest.[3]
Larvae have yellow stripes on the upper part of the green body and has black lumps. Known food plants are nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and cabbage (Brassica oleracea).[4]
This butterfly was last collected in 1994, and has not been found since despite a 15-year survey during the 1990s and 2000s.[5] It was officially declared extinct by the IUCN in 2023.[1]
The disappearance of this species coincides with the introduction, in the 1950s, of thesmall white butterfly (Pieris rapae). The mechanisms involved are not fully understood but aviral infection may be involved with the small white introducing a different strain of thegranulosis virus, for which the Madeiran large white had no resistance.[6] Another reason may be the introduction of a widely introducedagricultural bioagent, thewasp parasitoid,Cotesia glomerata, which was found in the westernCanary Islands in May 2006. It uses thePieridae as a host and is commonly found where Pieridae species are in abundance.[7]
Endemic to Madeira and found in the northern valleys of the laurel forest.
The scientific name commemoratesThomas Vernon Wollaston, an Englishentomologist who has discovered several insecttaxa on Madeira.
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