Pieridae

Sleepy oranges mud-puddling on a damp spot, Stuckey, South Carolina

The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America.[1] Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow, or orange in coloration, often with black spots. The pigments that give the distinct coloring to these butterflies are derived from waste products in the body and are a characteristic of this family.[2]

The name "butterfly" is believed to have originated from a member of this family — the brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni — which was called the "butter-coloured fly" by early British naturalists.[2]

The sexes usually differ, often in the pattern or number of the black markings.

The larvae (caterpillars) of a few of these species, such as Pieris brassicae and Pieris rapae, commonly seen in gardens, feed on brassicas, and are notorious agricultural pests.

Males of many species exhibit gregarious mud-puddling behavior when they may imbibe salts from moist soils.[1]

Classification

The Pieridae have the radial vein on the forewing with three or four branches and rarely with five branches. The fore legs are well developed in both sexes, unlike in the Nymphalidae, and the tarsal claws are bifid unlike in the Papilionidae.[3]

Like the Papilionidae, the Pieridae also have their pupae held at an angle by a silk girdle, but running at the first abdominal segment unlike the thoracic girdle seen in the Papilionidae.

Subfamilies

The Pieridae are generally divided into these four subfamilies:

According to the molecular phylogenetic study of Braby et al. (2006), sister group relationships among Pieridae subfamilies are: ((Dismorphiinae+Pseudopontiinae)+(Coliadinae+Pierinae)).

Some popular species

Clouded yellow, Colias croceus
Psyche butterfly, Leptosia nina

Some pest species

Pieris brassicae, large white or cabbage white

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 DeVries P. J. in Levin S.A. (ed) 2001 The Encyclopaedia of Biodiversity. Academic Press.
  2. 1 2 Carter, David (2000). Butterflies and Moths.
  3. ↑ Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A., & Johnson, N. F. (1989). An introduction to the study of insects (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishers. ISBN 0-03-025397-7

Further reading

External links

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