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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows (Pieridae) » Whites (Pierinae) » Cabbage Whites, Checkered Whites, Albatrosses (Pierini) » Pieris

Genus Pieris

Classification · Numbers · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References
white on cucumber - Pieris rapae Cabbage White - Pieris rapae - male Cabbage White - Pieris rapae Image 2 - Pieris rapae Mustard White or West Virginia White? - Pieris virginiensis cabbage white - Pieris rapae white butterfly - Pieris rapae Pieris rapae - male
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies and Skippers)
Family Pieridae (Whites, Sulphurs, Yellows)
Subfamily Pierinae (Whites)
Tribe Pierini (Cabbage Whites, Checkered Whites, Albatrosses)
Genus Pieris
Numbers
All Leps lists five species, including the introduced species P. rapae.
Food
Feed on members of the Brassicaceae family. They have developed biochemical adaptations to chemicals called glucosinolates present in these plants.
Life Cycle
See:
Remarks
The highest species variety is in the Palaearctic. A few crop-damaging species have been introduced from this area, such as the cabbage white (Pieris rapae), which has become the most abundant representative of this genus and perhaps of all butterflies. The parasitoid Cotesia glomerata has been introduced to control this pest.
Internet References
Science Daily article on Pieris brassicae larva defense mechanism
Oecologia. Foodplant preferences
Wikipedia
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 9 April, 2004 - 5:08pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Randy Hardy
Last updated 24 September, 2016 - 11:44am

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