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Photo#622688
Checkered White - Pontia protodice - female

Checkered White - Pontia protodice - Female
Norman Levy Park, Nassau County, New York, USA
March 23, 2012
New York for March.
Very early. In the past, the thinking was that these recolonized the area every year in the Summer/Fall. Given our local non-Winter, it seems likely that the current sighting represents a case of over-wintering.

Images of this individual: tag all
Checkered White - Pontia protodice - female Checkered White - Pontia protodice - female

I suspect this is actually a male
but can't tell without seeing more views (seeing the abdomen would probably make it certain). Females usually have wider markings than this, particularly on the front wings.

I think these little crisply marked "vernalis" types are most likely from overwintering pupae wherever they are seen, and I personally believe the species can overwinter in most of its distribution area (some of the damper most northern areas perhaps not?).

 
Here's a dorsal shot of the s
Here's a dorsal shot of the same individual. Having never seen one in the Spring before, I really can't be sure of male vs. female markings. If I saw this here in the Summer or Fall, I would call this a female. No better shots of the abdomen.

 
I was wrong - that's a female abdomen
It's nice to have the dorsal shot, regardless. There aren't to many of this "winter" form posted on BugGuide yet.

 
Glad that this contributes to
Glad that this contributes to The Guide. Fortunately, it was a real cooperative bug. I waited so long before I saw this one, I wonder if I will get another Spring one before I'm in the nursing home.

 
Now you're thinking like me
I realized that there are certain insects I see only once every 20 or so years so you never know if the next time you see one of them it will be your last. Of course, no one knows if the next breath they take will be their last either, but that's another story,,,,

Spring form "vernalis"
As I mentioned to Rich offline, there are older records of the spring form from NYC as well. In particular I recall Jeff Ingraham used to get them rarely at Jamaica Bay.

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