About Euchloe ausonia (Hübner, 1804)
Euchloe ausonia (Hübner, 1804) has a wingspan of 36–48 mm. Its forewings are white, with black tips and a black spot. The underside of the wings has black and yellow scales that form a greenish-white pattern. Females are generally darker than males, and the two annual generations differ in wing pattern. Caterpillars vary in base colour from yellowish to greenish to bluish, with distinct side stripes. The dorsal line and dorsal side line are darker than the base colour, and each segment has many very small black dots. The pupa is light brown and relatively slender. This species occurs in Europe across central and southern Italy, the Balkan Peninsula including most large Greek islands; its northern range boundary in Europe runs through southern Austria, Hungary and southern Ukraine. To the south and east, its range extends through Israel and Jordan, east to northern Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, and north through the Caucasus to southern Kazakhstan, continuing across the Palearctic to Tian Shan, Altai and Tibet. Euchloe ausonia prefers habitats including rocky slopes, rocky meadows, abandoned or neglected cultivated land, open olive groves, roadsides, mountain meadows, and forest edges, up to 2000 m above sea level. Within these habitats, nectar plants (especially cruciferous plants) must be common, along with caterpillar food plants.
