Pontia chloridice (Hübner, 1813)

Franeta, Filip, 2018, Checklist of the butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Montenegro, Zootaxa 4392 (1), pp. 128-148 : 137

Pontia chloridice (Hübner, 1813)

—Reported only by Sobczyk & Gligorović (2016) from eight localities in the Skadar –Zeta plain. The discovery of this species in Montenegro comes as a surprise, not only because the area around Podgorica has been surveyed by several entomologists ( Rebel 1913; Weiss 1975; Švara et al. 2015; Franeta pers. obs.), but also because of the high number of localities recorded by the authors. Even though P. chloridice is reported from neighbouring Albania ( Rebel 1913; Verovnik & Popović 2013) and is present in SE Macedonia ( Franeta et al. 2012), it remains a very localised species in Europe and has never been reported from Montenegro. In addition, the fact that P. edusa , a morphologically similar and widespread species, is not mentioned in the study of Sobczyk & Gligorović casts doubts regarding its correct determination. Moreover, the host plant for the species in the European part of its range, and in Turkey, Cleome ornithopodioides L. (Tolman & Lewington 2008; John et al. 2008; Franeta et al. 2012; Kemal & Koçak 2013), and the newly reported host plant in Cyprus Cleome iberica DC. ( John et al. 2013), have not been recorded for Montenegro ( Rohlena 1942; Stešević et al. 2014). The author has also contacted Mr. Sobczyk and Mr. Gligorović, who unfortunately had no preserved specimens of the possible P. chloridice candidates. In light of these facts, the species is not included in the checklist.