PIERIDAE

This is one of the commonest butterflies in the area and indeed in North America - but it is not a native species. It is a European species (known in the Britain as the Small White) and its caterpillars are well known for sharing our cabbage crops with us. In addition to cabbage and related vegetables, I have found it on many other species of Brassicaceae (Cruciferae), such as Sisymbrium officinale, Lepidium montanum, Raphanus raphanistrum, Hesperis matronalis, Sinapis arvensis, Cakile edentula and Armoracia rusticana, as well as the quite unrelated garden "Nasturtium" Tropaeolum majus. There are two colour varieties of the pupa.