Anthocharis gruneri Herrich-Schäffer, 1851


Anthocharis gruneri: Male (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Male (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Male (N-Greece, Askio mountains near Siatista, May 2008) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Egg (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014)  [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Egg (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Egg (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Young larva (Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Young larva showing typical head-down resting posture in Aethionema inflorescence which is eaten from the tip (Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Young larva (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2013) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Young larva (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2013) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Young larva (N-Greece, Siatista, May 2013) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Half-grown larva (Siatista, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Half-grown larva (Siatista, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Half-grown larva (Siatista, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Half-grown larva (Siatista, N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva in penultimate instar (e.l. Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. Siatista 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Larva (e.l. N-Greece, Siatista, May 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Pupa (e.l. Siatista 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Pupa (e.l. Siatista 2014) Anthocharis gruneri: Pupa (e.l. Siatista 2014) [S] Anthocharis gruneri: Aethionema plant with young larva (right from center), Siatista, May 2014 [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Aethionema plant with young larva (Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Aethionema, the most common host plant (Siatista, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Larval habitat with Aethionema (embankment) near Siatista (N-Greece, May 2014) [N] Anthocharis gruneri: Larval habitat in the Greek Askio mountains near Siatista (May 2014) [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives on a few tiny-flowering Brassicaceae, especially on Aethionema species.

Habitat:
Anthocharis gruneri colonizes shrub rich and dry slopes, rocky embankments, stony road sides and similar dry and warm places with open soil. The larvae are recorded at fully sun-exposed spots as well as at semi-shady ones.

Life cycle:
The pupa hibernates and the adults fly from late March to late May. The caterpillar might be expected from late April to June. I recorded eggs and young to half-grown larvae quite common alway on Aethionema at suitable places in Northern Greece (Siatista, Kozani) in 800-1000m asl in mid-May 2014. The larvae typically rest head-down in the inflorescence which is eaten from the tip.

Remarks:
Anthocharis gruneri is distributed from Albania, Macedonia, Greece and southern Bulgaria across Turkey and Israel to Iran.



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