Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Small

Diet

Herbivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

Garden Whites are common butterflies found fluttering across open meadows. Their caterpillars store mustard oils from cabbage to taste toxic to hungry predators.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2. 2.
   caterpillar

   A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3. 3.
   chrysalis

   A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4. 4.
   butterfly

   A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Pieridae

Genus

Pieris