Genus Gonepteryx Leach, 1815
 
Introduction
The various species of this genus are relatively well known. Nevertheless, the specific status of the taxa from the Canary Islands remains uncertain, as the conclusions of several recent studies are somewhat divergent. The phylogenetic study of the genus by Brunton et al. (1998) concluded that three putative species occur in the Canary Islands: Gonepteryx cleobule (Hübner, [1824]), G. eversi Rehnelt, 1974 and G. palmae Stamm, 1963. Although Dapporto et al. (2022) recognise only a single species on these islands, G. cleobule, the figure depicting the haplotype network nonetheless reveals a significant separation among the three taxa proposed by Brunton et al. (1998). However, the barcoding data show a maximum p-distance of only 2.1% (corresponding to 11 mutations in the mitochondrial COI gene), based on a limited sample of 13 specimens from three islands. As no nuclear data are available, these results should be interpreted with caution.
In his monograph on the genus, Bozano et al. (2016) retain only two species for the Canary Islands, G. cleobule and G. palmae, and treat G. eversi as a subspecies of G. cleobule. Plates of male genitalia (by Coutsis J.) demonstrate that there is a significant difference in the structure of the male genitalia between G. cleobule and G. palmae. Are these differences sufficient to ensure reproductive isolation of these insular populations?
 
Conclusion
In the checklist (Taymans & Cuvelier 2025), G. cleobule and G. palmae are adopted for the Gonepteryx of the Canary Islands.
 
References

Bozano G., Coutsis J., Herman P., Allegrucci G., Cesaroni D. & Sbordoni V. 2016. Guide to the Butterflies of the Palearctic Region. Pieridae part 3, Subfamily Coliadinae (tribes Rhodocerini, Euremini and Catopsilia), Subfamily Dismorphiinae. — Milano: Omnes Artes (Ed.). 70 p.

Brunton C. & Hurst G. 1998. Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of Brimstone butterflies (genus Gonepteryx) from the Canary Islands and Madeira. — Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 63(1): 69-79. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.1998.tb01639.x

Dapporto L., Menchetti M., Vodă R., Corbella C., Cuvelier S., Djemadi I., Gascoigne-Pees M., Hinojosa J., Lam N., Serracanta M., Talavera G., Dincă V. & Vila. R. 2022. Atlas of mitochondrial genetic diversity for Western Palearctic butterflies. — Global Ecology and Biogeography 31: 2184-2190. Article: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13579. Supplementary Materials: url.

Taymans M. & Cuvelier S. A dynamic checklist of the Western Palearctic butterflies hyperlinked to the original descriptions at species, genus and family level (Lepidoptera, Papilionoidea). — Archives of Western Palearctic Lepidoptera 2025(1): 1-70. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14733224
 
Archives of Western Palearctic Lepidoptera
Editors-in-Chief: Michel Taymans & Sylvain Cuvelier