Small White
630961
220171101
2008-06-18T16:40:25Z
Grmanners
2630243
Category:British butterflies
{{Taxobox
| name = Small White
| image = Pieris rapae close Richard Bartz.jpg
| image_width = 204px
| image_caption = The Small White (Pieris rapae) is a small to mid-sized butterfly species of the Yellows-and-Whites family Pieridae.
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| ordo = [[Lepidoptera]]
| unranked_familia = [[Rhopalocera]]
| superfamilia = [[Papilionoidea]]
| familia = [[Pieridae]]
| tribus = [[Pierini]]
| genus = ''[[Pieris (butterfly)|Pieris]]''
| species = '''''P. rapae'''''
| binomial = ''Pieris rapae''
| binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[1758]])
}}
The '''Small White''' (''Pieris rapae'') is a small to mid-sized butterfly [[species]] of the Yellows-and-Whites [[family (biology)|family]] [[Pieridae]]. It is also commonly known as the '''Small Cabbage White'''. The names "Cabbage Butterfly" and "Cabbage White" can also refer to the [[Large White]].
It is widespread across [[Europe]], North [[Africa]] and [[Asia]] and has also been accidentally introduced to [[North America]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]] where they have become pests on cultivated [[cabbage]]s and other [[mustard family]] crops.
In appearance it looks like a smaller version of the Large White. The upperside is creamy white with black tips to the forewings. Females also have two black spots in the center of the forewings. Its underwings are yellowish with black speckles. It is sometimes mistaken for a [[moth]] due to its plain-looking appearance.
==Life cycle==
In Britain, it has two flight periods, April–May and July–August, but is continuously-brooded in North America, being one of the first butterflies to emerge from the chrysalis in spring, flying until hard freeze in the fall.
Its [[caterpillar]]s can be a pest on cultivated [[cabbage]]s, [[kale]], [[radish]], [[broccoli]], and [[horseradish]] but it will readily lay eggs on wild members of the cabbage family such as [[Charlock]] ''Sinapis arvensis'' and [[Hedge mustard]] ''Sisybrium officinale''. The eggs are laid singularly on foodplant leaves.
Traditionally known in the [[United States]] as the "Imported Cabbage Worm", now more commonly the "Cabbage White", the caterpillars are green and well camouflaged. Caterpillars rest on the undersides of the leaves, thus making them less visible to predators. Unlike the Large White, they don't store the mustard oils from their foodplants and so are not distastful to predators like birds. Like many other "White" butterflies it [[hibernation|hibernates]] as a [[pupa]]. It is also one of the most cold-hardy of the non-hibernating butterflies, occasionally seen emerging during mid-winter mild spells in cities as far north as Washington D.C.
Like its close relative the [[Large White]] this is a strong flyer and the British population is increased by continental immigrants in most years. Adults are [[diurnal]] and fly almost exclusively during mid-day, though it appears as if there is some activity in the later part of the night too, ceasing as dawn breaks (Fullard & Napoleone 2001).
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Pieris.rapae.caterpillar.jpg|Caterpillar
Image:ChristianBauer Pieris rapae cocoon.jpg|Pupa, late stage
Image:ChristianBauer Pieris rapae caterpiller2.jpg|Pupa, ready to eclose
Image:Pieris rapae.jpg|Copulation refusal action
Image:Small white mating 05-29.jpg| Butterflies mating
Image:Cabbage_white.JPG|Female
Image:Kleiner Kohlweissling Pieris rapae 2.jpg|Male
Image:Small White November 2007.jpg|Small White in Autumn
</gallery>
==References==
{{Commons|Pieris rapae}}
* Asher, Jim ''et al.'': ''The Millennium Atlas of Britain and Ireland'' Oxford University Press
* Evans, W.H. (1932): ''The Identification of Indian Butterflies''. (2nd Ed.), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
* Fullard, James H. & Napoleone, Nadia (2001): Diel flight periodicity and the evolution of auditory defences in the Macrolepidoptera. ''Animal Behaviour'' '''62'''(2): 349–368. <small>{{doi|10.1006/anbe.2001.1753}}</small> [http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3full/reprints/FullNapolDielAB.pdf PDF fulltext]
* Gaonkar, Harish (1996): "Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (Including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a Threatened Mountain System." ''Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society''.
* Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac & Punetha, J.C. (1992): ''Common Butterflies of India''. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
* Kunte, Krushnamegh (2005): ''Butterflies of Peninsular India''. Universities Press.
*{{ITIS|ID=188541|taxon=Pieris rapae|year=2006|date=6 February}}
* Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957): ''Butterflies of the Indian Region'', Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
[[Category:Pieris]]
[[Category:Butterflies and moths of Europe]]
[[Category:British butterflies]]
[[Category:Butterflies and moths of Asia]]
[[Category:Butterflies and moths of North America]]
[[Category:Insects of Africa]]
[[da:Lille Kålsommerfugl]]
[[de:Kleiner Kohlweißling]]
[[fr:Piéride de la rave]]
[[fy:Lytse Wite Koalflinter]]
[[it:Pieris rapae]]
[[lt:Ropinis baltukas]]
[[nl:Klein koolwitje]]
[[ja:モンシロチョウ]]
[[no:Liten kålsommerfugl]]
[[pl:Bielinek rzepnik]]
[[ru:Репница]]
[[simple:Small White]]
[[fi:Naurisperhonen]]
[[sv:Rovfjäril]]