Cabbage White, Pieris rapae

Arthropoda > Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pieridae

Cabbage White, Pieris rapae

The photo shows a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) butterfly feeding on the flower nector. The photos below show the life cycle of the butterfly.

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	The cabbage white butterfles ones frequent Brassicaceae (mustard) family plants during early summer seasons between June and July. If you watch the butterflies carefully, you might encounter one of female butterflies laying eggs on the leaves, as shown in the photo.
	The eggs are usually laid on the back side of the leaves.
	The larva hatches in a few days. The process is quite dramatic. First, the eyes appear inside the egg. Then the larva swung its body to move out of the egg shells. When it fully got out, it walks out for a while, then -- turn itself back toward the egg shell. The photo shows the larva eating the egg shell.
	The larva is pale green in color and is almost transparent when it is small.
	Soon, the larva become green in color. The larva constantly eats away the leaves and the growth is rapid (chart).
	In a few weeks, the larva became a pupa. The pupa at first is green in color. In a few days, the color turns into pale brown. The pupa was around 2 cm in size.
	After a week staying in the pupa form, the butterfly emerged from the pupa as shown in the photo.