58.007 : 1550  : 6998
Pieridae : Pierinae

Small White

PIERIS rapae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Picture

Life Cycle Guide

Picture
Description
Alternative Names: Small Cabbage White  : Cabbage White  : Imported Cabbage Worm Butterfly-USA
Wingspan: 40-55mm 
Worldwide Distribution: N.Africa  : Europe  : Asia  : Japan  : Introduced into N.America in 19th Century  : Introduced into Australia in 1939.
UK Distribution: A common and widespread butterfly in England,Wales,Ireland and the south of Scotland.
UK Conservation Status -
  • Least Concern - Red List
European Conservation Status -
  • Least Concern
Original Species Name -
  • Papilio rapae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Type Species - Pieris
  • Papilio brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Type Locality -
  • Sweden
Altitude: Sea Level-3000m
Flight Period: April-November : Polyvoltine-Possibly three broods in a good season.
Habitat: As a mobile species it can be found in any location.
Ovum: The ribbed skittle-shaped ovum are laid singly on the underside of the leaves of various members of the brassicae family both wild and domestically grown.
The female prefers to deposit ova during warmer spells but during rainy weather she stores the ova in her body,deposting twice as many when the weather improves.
Ova may hatch in less than a week depending on the weather and changes from white to bright yellow to grey.
Larva: June-early October. The caterpillar first eats a small hole in the leaf before boring inwards towards the heart of the plant where it stays for a week or two before once agin living in the open along the midrib of a leaf.The larva is green with a intermittent yellow dash viewed along the side and a feint yellow continuous line along the centre, viewed from the top.
Pupa: The pupa can be found in a green form and brown form and is help in position by the cremaster and a fine silk girdle.
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: The Small White is a common butterfly seen throughout the countryside from as early as February in search of nectar and egg laying sites.
In a normal season this butterfly can be seen between April and June, with the second brood appearing between May and July when the highest numbers are seen,however in a good year a third emergence is possible taking the butterfly well into September.

Foolishly the butterfly was introduced into Australia in 1939 where it has been a pest ever since and into North America in the 19th century.

The first brood males have feint black spots and black wing margins with the females being bolder with two spots clearly seen on the forewings but the second brood produces males with much darker markings and females being darker then the males.

Like its cousin the Green-viened White this butterfly pairs up to three times with a corresponding increase in the numbers of eggs deposited compared to an individual that only pairs once.
With all the early stages being predated by birds and viruses during wet summers one can only suggest multiple pairing somewhat redresses the balance.
Clearly the Small White is one of our commonest of butterflies and one of the few species showing no sign of decline over the years.
Subspecies
P.r.rapae Linnaeus, 1758 Europe,including British Isles : North Africa : NW Asia - Nominate Subspecies
Introduced in N.America : Australia and New Zealand.
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website where further information like photos,physical characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
  • Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.

Larval Food Plants
Taxonomy
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Type Species - PIERIS:

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Subspecies:
Animalia
Eumetozoa
Arthropoda
Hexapoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Papilionoidea 
Pieridae
Pierinae
Pierini
PIERIS Schrank, 1801
Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758)
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Papilio brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758)
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PAPILIO rapae (Linnaeus, 1758)
= Pieris brassciae crucivora Boisduval, 1836
= Pieris rapae flavescens Röber, 1907
= metra Stephens, 1827
= napaeae Esper, 1804
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Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.468 n.59
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Sweden
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P.r. alba Seebold,1898
P.r. aurea Rolfe, 1876.
P.r. bimaculata Verity, 1917.
P.r. binigrata Derenne, 1924
P.r. brunneoflavida Stauder, 1912.
P.r. divisa Gelin, 1912
P.r. fasciata Tutt, 1896
P.r. flava ter Haar, 1899
P.r. impunctata Le Moult, 1944
P.r. lacticolor Lempke, 1953 
P.r. leucotera Stefanelli, 1869 
P.r. praeterita Krulikowsky, 1908
P.r. subtus-flava Lempke, 1934
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P.r.rapae Linnaeus, 1758-As per specie page
P.r.deleta Strand, 1901-N Europe
P.r.mauretanica Verity, 1908-N Africa
P.r.transcaucasia Stauder, 1925-Caucasus : Armenian Highland
P.r.meleager Hemming, 1934-Talysh : Kopet-Dagh
P.r.kenteana Rühl, 1893-Altai : Sayan : Transbaikalia : Far East : Kamchatka
P.r.crucivora Boisduval, 1836-Amur : Ussuri : Sakhalin
P.r.debilis Alphéraky, 1889-S E Europe : Turan :  Tian-Shan : Gissar : Darvaz : Altai : Pamirs
P.r.yunnana Mell, 1943-Yunnan province