Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Wednesday 29 June 2016

CLEOPATRA BUTTERFLY [Male] (Gonepteryx cleopatra subspecies G. c. insularis) Moni Gouvernetou Monastery, Akrotiri Peninsula, Crete, Greece


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The Cleopatra Butterfly (Gonepteryx cleopatra) or simply called Cleopatra is a medium sized butterfly of the family Pieridae which is in the genus Gonepteryx. It occurs in Southern Europe, Northwest Africa as well as Turkey and parts of the Middle East. In Europe, this long lived species is on the wing from April to August. There are 10 subspecies recognised and the subspecies Gonepteryx cleopatra insularis is endemic to the Greek island of Crete.

Text © Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds.com

The Cleopatra Butterfly is divided into the following subspecies:
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra cleopatra  – North Africa, Portugal, Spain, Sicily
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra balearica  – Balearic Islands
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra petronella  – Ibiza
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra italica  – Italy, France, Corsica,  Sardinia
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra dalmatica  – Dalmatian coast, western Balkans
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra citrina  – southern Greece
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra insularis  – Crete
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra fiorii  – Rhodes
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra taurica  – Anatolia, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Cyprus
  •     Gonepteryx cleopatra palmata  – Cyrenaica, Libya
 Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonepteryx_cleopatra 


 CLEOPATRA BUTTERFLY [Female] (Gonepteryx cleopatra subspecies G. c. insularis) Moni Gouvernetou Monastery, Akrotiri Peninsula, Crete, Greece