Pieridae
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2 of the 39 species in the drawer belong to this family.
Photos marked Reference photo come from museum collections and open-licence archives, credited on each page, until Lucy photographs her own specimens. The drawer travels to some pop-ups; what Lucy brings varies from one pop-up to the next.
- All39
- Papilionidae5
- Nymphalidae26
- Pieridae2
- Riodinidae2
- Lycaenidae1
- Sphingidae1
- Saturniidae1
- Uraniidae1
Pieridae
2 speciesFrom published sources, not from Lucy’s catalog. Each note lists where it came from.
Overview
Pieridae is the butterfly family known as the whites and the sulphurs, which are also called yellows. Most of its members are small to medium-sized butterflies. Their wings are usually white, yellow or orange, and they often carry dark markings. The family is found around the world. Its familiar members fall into two main groups: the whites and the sulphurs. Some well-known whites tend to drift through gardens and open countryside instead of staying in one place.
What sets them apart
The first clue is color. The wings are mostly white, yellow or orange, sometimes with dark tips, spots or edges, and only a few markings overall. The second clue is the legs. All six legs are fully formed and used for standing, which is different from the brush-footed butterflies, whose front pair is reduced. Females often look different from males in color or pattern, so one species can show more than one look. The caterpillars are generally green, slim and tube-shaped, often with pale stripes along the body.
Representative genera
Pieris is a familiar genus among the whites. It includes the cabbage white and the large white. Colias is a familiar genus among the sulphurs. It includes the clouded sulphur and the orange sulphur. Family checklists also list a smaller group called the mimic-whites, separate from the main whites and sulphurs.
Common mix-ups
Misconception: whites are always white and sulphurs are always yellow. Color is only a starting point. Some sulphurs are orange, a normally yellow sulphur can sometimes be white, and pale females of closely related sulphurs can be almost impossible to tell apart. Misconception: any white butterfly in a garden is the cabbage white. Many whites and sulphurs look very alike, and naming a species takes a careful look at the wing pattern. Misconception: every butterfly family stands the same way. Pierids stand on all six full-sized legs, while brush-footed butterflies look as if they have only four.
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