thumb|Common Jezebel ([[Delias eucharis)]]

thumb|Eastern greenish black-tip ([[Euchloe penia)]]

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 and Eurasia. 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. The family was created by William Swainson in 1820.

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.

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. But some species such as the madrone butterfly that belong to this family do not shows the presence of this abdominal silk girdle.

Subfamilies

The Pieridae are generally divided into these four subfamilies:

  • Dismorphiinae (six genera), mostly Neotropical; this group includes several mimetic species. The host plants are in the family Fabaceae. sister group relationships among Pieridae subfamilies are ((Dismorphiinae + Pseudopontiinae) + (Coliadinae + Pierinae)).

Some common species

  • Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni
  • California dogface, Zerene eurydice
  • Catalina orangetip, Anthocharis cethura catalina
  • Cloudless sulphur, Phoebis sennae
  • Clouded yellow, Colias croceus
  • Orange tip, Anthocharis cardamines
  • Psyche butterfly, Leptosia nina

Some pest species

  • Colias eurytheme, alfalfa butterfly or orange sulphur

thumb|[[Pieris brassicae, large white or cabbage white ]]

  • Colias philodice clouded sulphur
  • Pieris rapae, small white or cabbage white
  • Pieris brassicae, large white or cabbage white

References

Further reading

  • Braby, M. F. 2005. Provisional checklist of genera of the Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Zootaxa 832: 1–16.
  • Braby, M., R. Vila, and N. E. Pierce. 2006. Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: higher classification and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 147(2): 239-275.
  • Carter, David. 2000. Butterflies and Moths (2/ed). Dorling Kindersley, London. .
  • A New Subspecies of Eurema andersoni (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) from South India, O YATA, H GAONKAR - Entomological science, 1999 - ci.nii.ac.jp
  • Glassberg, Jeffrey Butterflies through Binoculars, The West (2001)
  • James, David G. and Nunnallee, David Life Histories of Cascadia Butterflies (2011)
  • Pyle, Robert Michael The Butterflies of Cascadia (2002)
  • TOL
  • GloBIS Database Includes type images
  • Pteron In Japanese but binomial names 3 pages of images. Tip Next page.
  • Holarctic Pieridae
  • "Family Pieridae". Insecta.pro.
  • Pontia protodice, checkered white on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
  • BHL Bridges Catalogue of the Papilionidae and Pieridae.
  • Whites & Yellows of Germany