Whites
Family: PIERIDAE
This sub-family includes the familiar 'Cabbage Whites' and their allies. Very mobile by
nature but it is only the Large and Small Whites that feed on cabbages.
LARGE WHITE Pieris brassicae
This, and the related Small White, are the two
notorious 'Cabbage Whites'. These butterflies
wander freely, looking for two things: nectar to
keep them fuelled and brassica crops to lay their
eggs on. Obviuosly all gardens have one or both,
so these butterflies are very much at home in
gardens. We do not actively encourage these two
species, but in view of their mobility just
mentioned and our garden being a haven for
butterflies anyway, we get very good numbers
of them.
The male is the one nearest the camera with no spots on its wings.
CURRENT STATUS Very common visitor. We do not regularly grow brassicas in our garden - the butterfly breeds on alternative foodplants grown for the encouragement of the
Green-veined White and Orange Tip.
LARVAL FOODPLANT Brassica crops. Also uses honesty, dame's-violet, and garlic mustard.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS Buddleia; dame's-violet; verbena bonariensis; red campion; honesty; scabious; devil's-bit scabious; runner bean; marjoram; knapweed; thistles.
WHEN SEEN April - June. July - October.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS None - a true pioneer species.
SMALL WHITE Pieris rapae
Same general comments apply as for Large White.
CURRENT STATUS Very common, sometimes
abundant visitor. We do not regularly grow brassicas
in our garden - the butterfly breeds on alternative
foodplants that occur in the garden.
LARVAL FOODPLANT Garlic mustard, horse
radish, oil seed rape.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS Buddleia;
dame's-violet; verbena bonariensis; marjoram; honesty;
scabious; devil's-bit scabious; aubretia; knapweed;
thistles; bramble; privet; dandelion; ice plant; Michaelmas daisy;
WHEN SEEN April - June. July - October.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS None - a true pioneer species.
GREEN-VEINED WHITE Pieris napi
Pictured right is a female Green-veined White. Compare
it to the much less heavily marked female Small White
above. The underside markings are an even better
distinction between the two species - the veins of the
wings being noticably picked out in green, as its name
suggests.
This is NOT a Cabbage White. Although the larvae of
the two Cabbage Whites will eat the foodplants of the
Green-veined, it never happens vice
versa. These are true butterflies of
the countryside, their caterpillars
feeding on wild plants.
The lower photo shows underside
marking differences between the
two species. The one nearest the camera with indistinct markings is a Small - the grren veins can clearly be discerned on the others.
This group are 'mud-puddling' on the marshy edge of our pond, taking minerals from the damp earth.
CURRENT STATUS Very well established resident.
LARVAL FOODPLANT Garlic mustard, cuckoo flower, honesty, dame's-violet, oil seed rape and related crucifers. NEVER brassica crops.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS Buddleia; dame's-violet; marjoram; scabious; devil's-bit scabious; aubretia; honesty; bramble; privet; verbena bonariensis; knapweed; hemp agrimony.
WHEN SEEN April - June. July - September.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS Seemingly very happy here without any specific attention other than the provision of larval foodplants.
ORANGE TIP Anthocharis cardamines
Only the male has the distinctive orange tip to the forewings. To the novice, females could be mistaken for one of the other Whites, but the underside mottling is a sure give away (see photo below). Both the above photographs feature two of the butterly's main larval foodplants - the male is nectaring on honesty, the female on cuckoo flower. Unlike the other Whites, this butterfly is only seen in the spring. This is because the caterpillars eat the developing seed pods of the various foodplants, which are only available in the early months of the season, not the leaves as with the other species that are double brooded.
Camouflage at its best. When settled with wings tightly closed on umbellifers, or in this case it's foodplant garlic mustard, the Orange Tip blends in perfectly with the background.
CURRENT STATUS Reasonably well established.
LARVAL FOODPLANT Garlic mustard, cuckoo flower, honesty, dame's-violet, charlock, oil seed rape.
FAVOURED NECTAR PLANTS Dame's-violet; honesty; aubretia; red campion; dandelion; bluebell.
WHEN SEEN April - June.
SPECIALIST REQUIREMENTS Untidiness!! Orange Tips provide two good examples of how a wildlife garden cannot be kept too tidy. Every picture tells a story:
Left - a cluster of Orange Tip caterpillars busy eating the seed pods of dame's-violet. In ordinary gardens this and other plants would be cut back once the flowers had died. If we did that, so would the Orange Tips.
Right - clearing up of dead stems and twigs in the hedgerows would also lead to disaster - the Orange Tip pupae spend many months in this dormant stage of metamorphosis from July, through the winter, until the butterflies hatch the following April or May. They attach themselves to these supports, which they mimic.
