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Species
Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758)
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Stunning video of Cotesia glomerata larvae inside a parasitized caterpillar. Also shows how the caterpillar protects the wasp cocoons after they have emerged from its body.
License | http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Katja Schulz, Katja Schulz |
Source | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMG-LWyNcAs&feature=youtu.be |
The caterpillars feed on wild or cultivated crucifers (members of the cabbage family), and prefer cultivated cabbages and Brussels-sprout (varieties of Brassica oleracea), as well as oil-seed rape (Brassica napi) (2). It is therefore usually seen close to farms and gardens (2).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/large-white/pieris-brassicae/ |
Typically, two generations are produced each year (3). The first brood of adults emerges in spring and flies until April. A second, larger brood of adults appears in July (2), and in particularly warm years, a third brood may occasionally occur (2). The eggs are laid in batches, on leaves of the foodplants (2), hatching after around a week (3). In their early stages, the caterpillars live in groups (2), and can be extremely damaging, reducing the foodplant to a mere skeleton (3). They become solitary later on in life (2), and are very distasteful to birds because they consume mustard oils from their diet (2); their bright colouring advertises this fact, protecting the caterpillars from attack (3). Members of the broods produced later in the year hibernate through the winter as a white pupa (2) attached to walls, fences, tree trunks and occasionally the foodplant (3).
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright Wildscreen 2003-2008 |
Source | http://www.arkive.org/large-white/pieris-brassicae/ |
Host-plants: Not breeding in Egypt, but elsewhere on Brassicaceae and Capparis spinosa.
Caterpillar hosts: Cabbages, Brussel-sprouts, nasturtium. Adult food: Flower nectar from a very wide array of plants including thistles and butterfly bush.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/581 |
"Pieris brassicae, commonly called the Large Cabbage White, is a Pierid butterfly that is a common pest in cabbage plantations."
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Compsilura concinnata is endoparasitoid of larva of Pieris brassicae
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Exorista grandis is endoparasitoid of larva of Pieris brassicae
Animal / predator
Himacerus mirmicoides is predator of egg of Pieris brassicae
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Nilea hortulana is endoparasitoid of larva of Pieris brassicae
Remarks: Other: uncertain
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Phryxe vulgaris is endoparasitoid of larva of Pieris brassicae
Foodplant / open feeder
caterpillar of Pieris brassicae grazes on live leaf of Brassica
Foodplant / open feeder
caterpillar of Pieris brassicae grazes on live leaf of Tropaeolum majus
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
larva of Siphona geniculata is endoparasitoid of larva of Pieris brassicae
Remarks: Other: uncertain
Animal / parasitoid / endoparasitoid
solitary larva of Trichogramma brassicae is endoparasitoid of egg of Pieris brassicae
Large size: 57-66 mm. It has white with dark wingtips extended down to the wing edge. Summer generations are larger with more black on wing tips.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/581 |
Yellow eggs laid on undersides of host leaves. Caterpillar is gray-green with black stains ands short white hairs. Pupa is gray-green with small yellow and black marks on it.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/581 |
3 records. Latest in 1918 (North Sinai)
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/581 |
June-November
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Bibliotheca Alexandrina, BA Cultnat, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - EOL Ar |
Source | http://lifedesk.bibalex.org/ba/pages/581 |