Euchloe tagis (Hübner, [1804])

Euchloe tagis (Hübner, [1804]) View in CoL ( Pieridae ) **

L6; 19/III/2023, flying over a dolomitic cliff with I. gibraltarica , 1 ex. v., JLR; L6; 30/IV/2024, 1 third-instar larva collected below the floral bud of I. gibraltarica, JLR.

Comment: Observed at a single locality (one 1× 1 km UTM square), the Mogote de Benż, a dolomitic (calcareous) outcrop with steep topography geologically part of the Yebel Musa Unit ( Chamorro & Nieto, 1989; IGME, 2013). This is the only calcareous–dolomitic area in Ceuta (1.8 ha), and hosts the city’s sole populAtion of I. gibraltarica ( Ugarte et al., 2003a) , the larval host plant of this species. Since the larvae exclusively develop on Iberis L. species, the presence of this plant at Mogote de Benż is key to the populAtion’s persistence in CeutA. This is the first record for CeutA And represents the northernmost occurrence in the Tingitan Peninsula. E. tagis in known from only 8 10× 10 km UTM squares in Morocco ( Rungs, 1981; Tennent, 1996; Tarrier & Delacre, 2008; Tarrier, 2025a), the nearest being in the Djebel Kelti calcareous massif (Chefchaouen region), about 62 km south of Ceuta. According to Tarrier & Delacre (2008) and Tarrier (2025a). It is currently undergoing a marked decline in Morocco. The northern Moroccan populations (Rif), including CeutA’s, are assigned to the subspecies E. tagis reisseri Back & Reissinger, 1989 ( Tennent, 1996; Tarrier & Delacre, 2008; Leraut, 2016).