#Cabbage White

[bugsbutch]

aaaah i don't think i have mentioned here the chrysalis that i found in my fridge back in november because i was afraid it might not survive the winter but i carried it in from the balcony today and it looks like it's alive 🥹 i can see the wings

how it started vs how it's going

(yea i made a gauze hammock in the jar for it cause placing it on bare glass felt wrong. maybe now i should remove it and put in a piece of stick for when it hatches)

[kristo-flowers]

Cabbage white butterflies over the dunes of Knokke, Belgium

[antiqueanimals]

British Butterflies and their Transformations. Arranged and illustrated in a series of plates by Henry Noel Humphreys, with characters and descriptions by John Obadiah Westwood. Published in 1841.

Internet Archive

[onenicebugperday]

do you have any factoids about the pieris genus? particularly pieris rapae cuz i named my after them :) my name is pae (pronounced like the english word "pay") taken from the end of their name

unrelated thing about my name but it's unintentionally an anagram for "ape" which is fun because i'm interested in nonhuman primates

weeble for your troubles

Honestly I don't know much about them beyond what you can read on their wikipedia page! So I'm sorry I can't share any fun facts but I can share a few nice photos for you to enjoy! These are all Pieris rapae although all flutterbies in Pieris are lovely

Fuzzy lil caterpillar up close!!! Photo by flossiepip

Less close but still good. They are SO fuzzy and adorable. Photo by matt227

A nice yellow adult by Judy Gallagher

Chrysalises can be brown, tan, green, yellow, or a combination of those, so here's a couple:

Photos by jacqui-nz and jellyelfhomestead

And finally the egg!

Obviously this is an extreme close up, and they're VERY tiny...like 1mm. Photo by Gilles San Martin

[razehider]

this large white caterpillar (Pieris brassicae) was parasitized by a braconid wasp (Cotesia glomerata) whose larvae ate it from inside in typical wasp fashion. the cool part is that instead of simply pupating inside the host, these larvae somehow exit without killing it, spin cocoons next to it, and the caterpillar then protects them. it was visibly displeased with my presence, and would squirm and shake its head at me if i got too close

the caterpillar's behavior is caused by Bracoviriform glomeratae, a virus produced by the wasp. it suppresses the caterpillar's immune system, prevents it from pupating, and forces it to protect the parasitoids, even weaving a silk tent around their cocoons (barely visible in the photos if you zoom in). the caterpillar does die eventually, but this one survived for at least a few days. the wasps made it out much later (or maybe hyperparasitoids did. you know how it is with wasps)

(December 29th, 2023)

[miyrumiyru]

This white butterfly is named 'Cabbage white' because...

When they were larvae, they love to eat cabbages!

Cabbage white (Pieris rapae)

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

Some say that moths are just nighttime butterflies, but here is an actual nighttime butterfly - a cabbage white, Pieris rapae - that I caught with the flashlight, hanging out on my joe-pye-weed. What a cute little jerk-eating-my-brassicas :-).

[speakingofnature]

Cabbage White Butterfly

With the ability for a single female to produce over 800 eggs, the Cabbage White must overcome predation and the elements to maintain a stable population. Their best defense is large numbers.

[zelkwin]

Two ladies having a chat over the back fence

Photo from UC ANR Bug Squad Blog

[lunarlotuscove]

Thursday August 15th 2024 5:50-5:54pm

[flowerishness]

Ligustrum (privet) and Pieris rapae (cabbage white butterfly)

We have a very tall privet hedge which runs the length of our back fence and the back fences of our neighbors on either side. Yesterday, I cut it back as I do every year. The privet is allowed to grow up, as a privacy screen, but it’s not allowed to grow ‘out’ into my back lawn. As any gardener knows, sometimes plants need to be closely controlled.

Privets are from Asia. Although privet hedges are synonymous with English country gardens, everywhere else they grow in the world (except Asia) they’re a non-native species. This includes our back garden in Vancouver.

While on the subject of non-native species, the cabbage white butterfly has a natural range across Europe, Asia and North Africa. It was accidently introduced to Quebec in 1860 and is now commonly found throughout North America. By 1898, the cabbage white had spread to Hawaii. It reached New Zealand and Australia in 1929. It does not seem to have made it to South America yet. Incidentally, this one has two spots on each wing, so it’s a female.

[mostlythemarsh]

First one of these little guys that stayed still long enough for me to press the shutter release in a long time.

[cartoonishly]

Ephemeral 🦋

[onenicebugperday]

@syntax-stonefly submitted: a little friend i found in my broccoli!! found in [removed] [please remove], about 4 mm long i’d guess. very sleepy!

I'd be sleepy too if I were refrigerated! I'd guess it's a cabbage white but there are other tiny green dudes that enjoy eating broccoli.

[girlinlovewiththeforest]

[ordinary-beautiful]

Early Worm