Neophasia menapia explained

Neophasia menapia, the pine white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the western United States and in southern British Columbia, Canada.^{[1] [2]}

It is mostly white with black veins and wing bars. The species is similar to Neophasia terlooii but their ranges only overlap in New Mexico.^{[1] [3]}

The wingspan is 42-.^[1] Its habitats include pine forests and Douglas fir forests in northern coastal California.^[4]

The host plants are Pinus species, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Tsuga heterophylla, Abies balsamea, Abies grandis, and Picea sitchensis.^[5] Adults feed on flower nectar from rabbitbrush, other yellow-flowered composites, and monarda.

Neophasia menapia are a univoltine species that lay their eggs on live pine needles, as stated by a scientific research paper ("Phylogeography and the population genertics of pine butterflies") that details the differences between Neophasia.^[6]

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

• Neophasia menapia menapia
• Neophasia menapia tau (Scudder, 1861)^[7]
• Neophasia menapia melanica Scott, 1981
• Neophasia menapia tehachapina Emmel, Emmel & Mattoon, 1998
• Neophasia menapia megamenapia Austin, 1998

Notes and References

1. http://www.cbif.gc.ca/spp_pages/butterflies/species/PineWhite_e.php Pine White
2. Web site: Species Neophasia menapia - Pine White - Hodges#4187 - BugGuide.Net . bugguide.net.
3. Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). Butterflies of North America. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY.
4. Web site: Neophasia menapia. explorer.natureserve.org.
5. http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/pieridae/pierinae/neophasia/index.html Neophasia
6. Halbritter. Dale A.. Storer. Caroline G.. Kawahara. Akito Y.. Daniels. Jaret C.. Phylogeography and population genetics of pine butterflies: Sky islands increase genetic divergence. Ecology and Evolution. 2019 . en. 9. 23. 13389–13401. 10.1002/ece3.5793. 2045-7758. 6912906. 31871652. 2019EcoEv...913389H .
7. http://butterfliesofamerica.com/US-Can-Cat.htm Pelham, J. A Catalogue of the Butterflies and Moths of the United States and Canada. Revised 18 April 2019