Belongs to: yellow and white butterflies
Compare with: small white
Large white Pieris brassicae
Also known as: cabbage white
Best time to see: mid Apr to mid Sep
Key facts
Larger of the white butterflies that lay eggs on cabbage plants
Habitat: anywhere, but especially vegetable gardens, allotments and cabbage fields
One of Britain's commonest butterflies
Recognition
Gleaming white upperwings with black tips; underwings pale yellow dusted with grey
Highly mobile with a strong, fluttering flight
Usually seen in ones or twos; wingspan just under 5 cm
Lifecycle
Lays pale yellow eggs in groups of 50–100 on the leaves of brassicas, especially cabbages and brussels sprouts, from May to September
Caterpillars, at first pale green later marked black and yellow, feed in groups, reducing leaves to skeletons
Some adults emerge in spring from the over-wintering chrysalis, but the largest number emerge in late summer
© David Corke
© David Corke
© Tony Gunton