Green-veined White (lat. Pieris napi)

A circumboreal species widespread across Europe and Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, Japan, the Maghreb and North America. It is found in meadows, hedgerows and woodland glades but not as often in gardens and parks like its close relatives the large and small whites, for which it is often mistaken. Like other "white" butterflies, the sexes differ. The female has two spots on each forewing, the male only one. The veins on the wings of

the female are usually more heavily marked. The underside hindwings are pale yellow with the veins highlighted by black scales giving a greenish tint, hence green-veined white. Unlike the large and small whites, it rarely chooses garden cabbages to lay its eggs on, preferring wild crucifers. Males emit a sex pheromone that is perceptible to humans, citral, the basic flavor-imparting component of lemon peel oil. Some authors consider the mustard white and West Virginia white of

North America to be conspecific with P. napi or consider P. napi to be a superspecies. Despite this, the American butterflies, unlike P. napi, cannot successfully use garlic mustard as a host plant. Females will lay eggs on it, mistaking this non-native species for a compatible native mustard, resulting in the death of the offspring. Classification is also an issue concerning the European dark-veined white.

The eggs are laid singly on a wide range of food plants including hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), cuckooflower (Cardamine pratense), water-cress (Rorippa nastutium-aquaticum), charlock (Sinapis arvensis), large bitter-cress (Cardamine amara), wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea), and wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum), and so it is rarely a pest in gardens or field crops. The caterpillar is green and well camouflaged. When full grown it is green above with black warts, from which arise

whitish and blackish hairs. There is a darker line along the back and a yellow line low down on the sides. Underneath the colour is whitish-grey. The spiracular line is dusky but not conspicuous, and the spiracles are blackish surrounded with yellow. There is extensive overlap with other leaf-feeding larvae of large and small whites in some wild populations (e.g. in Morocco). It is often found feeding on the same plant as the orange tip

but rarely competes for food because it usually feeds on the leaves whereas the orange tip caterpillar feeds on the flowers and developing seed pods. Like other Pieris species it overwinters as a pupa. This is green in colour, and the raised parts are yellowish and brown. This is the most frequent form, but it varies through yellowish to buff or greyish, and is sometimes without markings.

P. napi is found in damp, grassy places with some shade, forest edges, hedgerows, meadows and wooded river valleys. The later generations widen their habitat use in the search for alternative food plants in drier, but flowery places. In the Mediterranean the insect is also found in scrub around mountain streams or springs and on floodplains with Nasturtium officinale. It is found from sea level to high elevations (2500 m in central Europe, 2600 m

in Italy, 3600 m in Morocco).

The generations vary with location, elevation and season. In northern Europe there are two or three generations from April to early September. In warmer areas and in some good years there is a fourth generation. In southern Europe there are three or more partially overlapping generations from March to October.

In Great Britain, April, May and June specimens have the veins tinged with grey and rather distinct, but are not so strongly marked with black as those belonging to the second flight, which occurs in late July and throughout August. This seasonal variation, as it is called, is also most clearly exhibited on the underside. In the May and June butterfly (plate 13, left side) the veins below are greenish grey, and those of the

hindwings are broadly bordered also with this colour. In the bulk of the July and August specimens (plate 13, right side) only the nervures are shaded with greenish grey, and the nervures are only faintly, or not at all, marked with this colour. Now and then a specimen of the first brood may assume the characters properly belonging to the specimens of the second brood; and, on the other hand, a butterfly of the second

brood may closely resemble one of the first brood. As a rule, however, the seasonal differences referred to are fairly constant. By rearing this species from the egg it has been ascertained that part (sometimes the smaller) of a brood from eggs laid in June attains the butterfly stage the same year, and the other part remains in the chrysalis until the following spring, the butterflies in each set being of the form proper to

the time of emergence.

In the typical form -forma typica- the forewings are creamy-white, irrorated with black towards the base. There is an apical blackish blotch, sometimes broken into several terminal spots; and a black spot between 3 and 4 (in male sometimes absent) In the female there is a black subdorsal posterior spot, and a dorsal confluent mark. The hindwings are creamy-white, the base black-sprinkled and a black costal spot before the apex (in male

sometimes absent). The underside of the hindwings and underside apex of the forewings is pale yellow the veins edged with a shading of fine black lines, in the hindwings more broadly. The ground colour varies from white to cream, sulphur-yellow, chrome yellow and light hues of buff or brown. The spot markings also vary and may be joined or absent. The vein shading varies in colour and in intensity and the shaded bands may be

broad or narrow. Variants, many named, are described by Röber (Europe), Langham (Ireland) and Anon (Britain)

Some authorities consider P. napi to be a superspecies that includes the American species mustard white and West Virginia white as well as the European dark-veined white. However, the American butterflies cannot successfully reproduce by laying eggs on the invasive weed garlic mustard, Alliaria petiolata, a fact that threatens their survival as garlic mustard out-competes native mustard plants due to having no biological control species present in North America. In Europe, where garlic mustard is native,

76 things consume it.

Pieris bryoniae Pieris ergane Pieris krueperi – Krueper's small white Pieris rapae – small white Pieris oleracea

Pieris napi napi Pieris napi adalwinda (Fruhstorfer, 1909) Finland, Sweden Pieris napi meridionalis Heyne & Rühl, 1895 Spain, Italy Pieris napi segonzaci (le Cerf, 1923) High Atlas Pieris napi maura (Verity, 1911) Glacières de Blida, Algeria Pieris napi atlantis (Oberthür, 1923) Azrou, Middle Atlas, Morocco Pieris napi flavescens (Wagner, 1903) Mödling, Austria Pieris napi lusitanica Lep. Portug. Porto: 2, 1929 De Sousa Portugal For others see Wikispecies.

Pieris adalwinda Fruhstorfer, 1909 Pieris arctica Verity, 1911 Pieris canidiaformis Drenowsky, 1910 Pieris dubiosa Röber, 1907 Pieris flavescens Wagner, 1903 Pieris meridionalis Heyne, 1895

Dark-veined white Mustard white List of butterflies of India (Pieridae) List of butterflies of Great Britain Species problem

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