Leptidea sinapis (Linnaeus, 1758) Wood White, Senfweibling, Pieride de la moutarde, Беляночка горошковая.
Distribution and biological peculiarities in Armenia: The species is distributed in Europe and eastwards across the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Middle Asia, Kazakhstan and South Siberia to the Baikal region. Armenia is inhabited by nominate subspecies, which inhabits wide variety of woodlands at the elevation range from 800 to 2200 m a.s.l. The species uses variety of host plants such as Vicia spp., Lathyrus spp., Lotus spp., Coronilla spp., Medicago spp., Astragalus spp. Depending on elevation it can give two-three or even four generations per year, being on wing from early April till late August.
Population dynamics: The abundance of the species varies in different habitats and shows rather large fluctuations. Also it was noticed that the species is quite dependent on the ecosystems’ disturbance and its number quickly goes down in the woodlands affected by logging. Despite on that, the trend of the species was stable during 2003-2013 (p>0.05). It is assumed that the wide range of host-plants prevents the species from decline in the areas affected by logging. Conservation measures: So far the Wood White has not been assessed for IUCN and National Red Lists, and is not included in CITES and Bern Conventions. However it is listed in European Red Book as a Least Concern. Preliminary assessment of its status in Armenia proposes the same status. Some parts of species’ populations are covered by Protected Areas, Emerald Sites, and Prime Butterfly Areas, however quite large portion lives at the areas of forestry enterprises. Although there are no conservation measures required it is important to conduct the species’ monitoring as an indicator of forest ecosystems and the load of forestry.