Pieris (butterfly)
| Pieris (Whites) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Small White (Pieris rapae) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pieridae |
| Subfamily: | Pierinae |
| Tribe: | Pierini |
| Genus: | Pieris Schrank, 1801 |
| Species | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
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Pieris, the whites or garden whites, is a widespread genus of butterflies of the family Pieridae. Many species of this genus have caterpillars which feed on cabbage and other members of the Brassicaceae. The chemical basis of this association with a certain plant group has been studied for over 100 years, and is now known to occur via a number of biochemical adaptations to chemicals called glucosinolates in these plants. In contrast to most other insects, Pieris caterpillars are able to detoxify these chemicals, and have become so specialised that they will not eat any food without glucosinolates. The Pieris females, in turn, check for the presence of glucosinolates before laying eggs on a plant. The crop-damaging species have spread from Eurasia to most of the rest of the world and are considered pest insects almost everywhere.
The females of many Pieris butterflies are UV reflecting, while the male wings are strongly UV absorbing due to pigments in the scales.[citation needed]
Species and notable subspecies
Arranged alphabetically.[1][2]
- Pieris ajaka Moore, 1865
- Pieris angelika Eitschberger, 1983 – Arctic White
- Pieris balcana Lorkovic, 1970 – Balkan Green-veined White
- Pieris bowdeni Eitschberger, 1984
- Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758) – Large (Cabbage) White
- Pieris brassicoides Guérin-Méneville, 1849
- Pieris bryoniae (Hübner, [1790-1793]) – Dark-veined White or Mountain Green-veined White
- Pieris canidia (Sparrman, 1768) – Indian Cabbage White
- Pieris cheiranthi (Hübner, 1808) – Canary Islands' Large White
- Pieris chumbiensis (de Nicéville, 1884) – Chumbi White
- Pieris davidis Oberthür, 1876
- Pieris deota (de Nicéville, 1884) – Kashmir White
- Pieris dubernardi Oberthür, 1884
- Pieris dulcinea (Butler, 1882)
- Pieris eitschbergeri Lukhtanov, 1996
- Pieris ergane (Geyer, [1828]) – Mountain Small White
- Pieris erutae Poujade, 1888
- Pieris euorientis (Verity, 1908)
- Pieris extensa Poujade, 1888
- Pieris krueperi Staudinger, 1860 – Krueper's Small White
- Pieris krueperi devta (de Nicéville, 1884) – Green-banded White
- Pieris lama Sugiyama, 1996
- Pieris mahometana (Grum-Grshimailo, 1888)
- Pieris mannii (Mayer, 1851) – Southern Small White
- Pieris marginalis Scudder, 1861 – Margined White
- Pieris marginalis reicheli Eitschberger, 1983 – Reichel's Margined White
- Pieris meckyae Eitschberger, 1983 – Mecky’s White
- Pieris melete Ménétriés, 1857 – Gray-veined White Butterfly
- Pieris naganum Moore, 1884 – Naga White
- Pieris napi (Linnaeus, 1758) – Green-veined White or Veined White
- Pieris narina (Verity, 1908)
- Pieris nesis Fruhstorfer, 1909
- Pieris ochsenheimeri (Staudinger, 1886)
- Pieris oleracea Harris, 1829 – Mustard White
- Pieris oleracea frigida Scudder, 1861 – Newfoundland White
- Pieris persis (Verity, 1922)
- Pieris pseudorapae (Verity, [1908])
- Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758) – Small White or (Small) Cabbage White
- Pieris steinigeri Eitschberger, 1984
- Pieris tadjika Grum-Grshimailo, 1888
- Pieris virginiensis (W.H. Edwards, 1870) – West Virginia White
References
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Wikispecies has information related to: Pieris (Pieridae) |
Further reading
- Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars, The West (2001)
- Guppy, Crispin S. and Shepard, Jon H. Butterflies of British Columbia (2001)
- James, David G. and Nunnallee, David Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (2011)
- Pelham, Jonathan Catalogue of the Butterflies of the United States and Canada (2008)
- Pyle, Robert Michael The Butterflies of Cascadia (2002)