Aporia crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Pieridae

Genus: Aporia
Species: crataegi

• It occurred in orchards, gardens, meadows… essentially anywhere where its foodplants occurred in abundance. Is a rare species now.
• Eggs in batches of 100-200, usually on the underside of a leaf of the hostplant. The color is yellow when first laid, but darken later when the larvae developing (2-3 weeks). The larva eats the eggshell when hatching an bd after join in a communal larval web. The larvae are gregarious and hibernate as a group when are in the 3rd instar. In spring, the larvae emerge but as the larvae grow they become more and more alone (the gregarious behaviour is abandoned). Larva on last stage are ~35 mm in length. The pupa is attached to a stem of the hostplant or a wall by a silken girdle and the cremaster. The length of pupa is approximately 25mm, yellow with black dots. This stage lasts approximately 3 weeks.
• Flight period: June-July
• Hostplant: Prunus, Crataegus, Malus, Pyrus, Amygdalis, Sorbus.
• photos taken in Bulgaria and mounted specimen is from Romania

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