PIERIDAE in Australia Whites and Yellows. PAPILIONOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans, (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

PIERIDAE eggs

PIERIDAE caterpillars

PIERIDAE pupae

PIERIDAE butterflies

PIERIDAE undersides

PIERIDAE Caterpillars live in the open, and rely on camouflage for protection. They are usually green or reddish brown. They have no spiky fleshy processes, being covered in fine hairs only. Their pupae are attached to a stem, or more often a flat surface, by a cremaster and a central silken girdle. The head end of the pupa is pointed or forked, and the upper surface often bears one or more pointed projections.

The 36 Australian species in PIERIDAE are:

Appias ada : Orange Albatross
Appias albina : White Albatross
Appias celestina : Blue Albatross
Appias paulina : Common Albatross
Appias melania : Grey Albatross

Belenois java : Caper White

Catopsilia gorgophone : Yellow Migrant
Catopsilia pomona : Lemon Migrant
Catopsilia pyranthe : White Migrant
Catopsilia scylla : Orange Migrant

Cepora perimale : Caper Gull

Delias aestiva : Summer Jezebel
Delias aganippe : Spotted Jezebel
Delias argenthona : Scarlet Jezebel
Delias aruna : Golden Jezebel
Delias ennia : Yellow-banded Jezebel
Delias harpalyce : Imperial Jezebel
Delias mysis : Union Jack or Red-banded Jezebel
Delias nigrina : Black Jezebel
Delias nysa : Yellow-spotted Jezebel

Elodina angulipennis : Southern Pearl-white
Elodina claudia : Cape York Pearl-white
Elodina padusa : Narrow-winged Pearl-white
Elodina parthia : Striated Pearl-white
Elodina perdita : Coastal Pearl-white
Elodina queenslandica : Glistening Pearl-white
Elodina tongura : Pipeclay Pearl-white
Elodina walkeri : Small Pearl-white

Eurema alitha : Scalloped Grass-yellow
Eurema brigitta : No-brand Grass-yellow
Eurema hecabe : Large Grass-yellow
Eurema herla : Pink Grass-yellow
Eurema laeta : Line Grass-yellow
Eurema puella : Broad-margined Grass-yellow
Eurema smilax : Small Grass-yellow

Leptosia nina : Black-spotted White

Pieris rapae : Cabbage White

Further reading:

John Moss & Ross Kendall,
Interesting Variations in Pierid Butterfly Adult Morphology,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 61 (June 2011), pp. 21-26,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

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(updated 4 June 2010, 28 December 2023)