The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow, or orange in coloration, often with black spots. The pigments that give the distinct coloring to these butterflies are derived from waste products in the body and are a characteristic of this family. The family was created by William John Swainson in 1820.
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. The butterfly is recognizable by its white color with small black dots on its wings, and it can be distinguished from P. brassicae by its larger size and the black band at the tip of its forewings.
Phoebis sennae, the cloudless sulphur, is a mid-sized butterfly in the family Pieridae found in the Americas. There are several similar species such as the clouded sulphur, the yellow angled-sulphur, which has angled wings, the statira sulphur, and other sulphurs, which are much smaller. The species name comes from the genus Senna to which many of the larval host plants belong.
Anthocharis cardamines, the orange tip, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae, which contains about 1,100 species. A. cardamines is mainly found throughout Europe and temperate Asia (Palearctic) The males feature wings with a signature orange pigmentation, which is the origin of A. cardamines' common name.
Anthocharis belia, the Moroccan orange tip, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It is found in northwestern Africa. The length of the forewings is 18–20 millimetres (0.7–0.8 in).
Anthocharis midea, the falcate orangetip, is a North American butterfly that was described in 1809 by Jacob Hübner. It belongs to the family Pieridae, which is the white and sulphurs. These butterflies are mostly seen in the eastern United States, and in Texas and Oklahoma. They eat the nectar of violets and mustards. They tend to live in open, wet woods along waterways, in open swamps, and less often in dry woods and ridgetops. This species is a true springtime butterfly, being on the wing from April to May.
Anthocharis cethura, the desert orangetip or Felder's orangetip, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Pierinae. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it lives on hills and ridges in rocky desert habitat.
Anthocharis damone, the eastern orange tip, is a butterfly in the subfamily Pierinae, found in southern Europe and into Asia Minor.
Anthocharis thoosa, the southwestern orangetip, is a butterfly which has a range mainly from the American Rocky Mountains down into Mexico. It is a member of the Anthocharis sara complex.
Papilio multicaudata, the two-tailed swallowtail, is a species of the family Papilionidae found in western North America from British Columbia to Central America.
The Pierinae are a large subfamily of pierid butterflies. The subfamily is one of several clades of butterflies often referred to as the whites.
Speyeria zerene, the zerene fritillary, is a butterfly found in the western portions of the United States and Canada. The species was first described by William John Swainson in 1827.
Leptidea sinapis, or the wood white butterfly of the family Pieridae, is a small white butterfly that is mainly found in England, Ireland, and Northern Europe. The butterfly has white wings with grey or yellow markings near the center or tip of the wing. It flies slowly and low over its shrubbery habitat. Males initiate courtship with females and can mate multiply, while females tend to only mate once in their lifetime.
The tribe Anthocharini is one of the subdivisions of the insect order Lepidoptera, which includes the moths and butterflies. It is a further subdivision of the butterfly family Pieridae and subfamily Pierinae; formerly it was considered a subfamily on its own, Anthocharinae. This tribe includes many, but not all, of the orangetip butterflies.
Euchloe ausonides, the large marble or creamy marblewing, is a species of butterfly that occurs in western North America. It lays eggs on the terminal flower buds of a variety of plants in the mustard family, including introduced Eurasian species, and the larvae feed on the buds, flowers and fruit of these plants. In California, it has witnessed population declines since the 1980s, especially in the Central Valley and the Bay Area. In Washington, subspecies the island marble butterfly was listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act in 2020.
Anthocharis is a holarctic genus of the butterfly tribe Anthocharini, in the family Pieridae. These are typically small, white-hued butterflies that have colorful marks just inside the tips of the forewings. The tip colors are usually a red-orange hue, hence the name "orange tip". The larvae of these butterfly often consume cruciferous plants containing chemicals called glucosinolates. This genus is characterized by two of the five subcostal veins branching off before the apex of the cell, by the upper radial being only little united with the subcostal, and by the central discocellular being rather long. In all the species the males have at least the apical portion of the forewing orange red or yellow. Only one species inhabits also the northern districts of the Palearctic region, all the others are found in the south of the Palearctic region, also some species occur in North America, but not one species extends into the tropics. The Anthocharis species have only one brood. The butterflies occur in spring.
Rhamphospermum arvense, the charlock mustard, field mustard, wild mustard, or just charlock, is an annual or winter annual plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is found in the fields of North Africa, Asia, Europe, and some other areas where it has been transported and naturalized. Pieris rapae, the small white butterfly, and Pieris napi, the green veined white butterfly, are significant consumers of charlock during their larval stages.
Ascia is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Ascia monuste, commonly known as the great southern white, In this species the sexes may differ with the female being either light or dark colored. It is found from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, and south to Argentina. It is migratory along the south-eastern coast of the United States, with strays to Maryland, Kansas, and Colorado.
Chlosyne leanira, the leanira checkerspot, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in North America from western Oregon south to California, Nevada, Utah and western Colorado, as well as Baja California. The wingspan is 33–40 mm. Generally, females are larger than males, but males have a more apparent red color to their wings.
