Pieridae
EOL Text
Caterpillars of whites and sulfurs eat the leaves and flowers of plants. Most species only eat plants in the mustard family (including cabbage, broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, and related vegetables) or in the bean family (including alfalfa and peas).
Adults sip flowers for nectar and mud for minerals and water.
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| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pieridae/ |
The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia.[1] Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots. The pigments that give the distinct colouring to these butterflies are derived from waste products in the body and are a characteristic of this family.[2]
It is believed that the name "butterfly" 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]
Contents
Classification[edit]
The Pieridae have the radial vein on the forewing with 3 or 4 branches and rarely with 5 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, 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[edit]
The Pieridae are generally divided into the following four subfamilies:
- Dismorphiinae (6 genera) Mostly Neotropical, this group includes several mimetical species. The host plants are in the family Fabaceae.[1]
- Pierinae (55 genera) Whites, Yellow, Orange-tips, many of these species are strongly migratory. Host plants are in the families Capparidaceae, Brassicaceae, Santalaceae, and Loranthaceae.[1]
- Coliadinae (14 genera) Sulphurs or Yellows, many of these species are sexually dimorphic. Some, such as Colias, have wing patterns that are visible only under ultraviolet.[1]
- Pseudopontiinae The sole species in this subfamily, Pseudopontia paradoxa, is endemic to West Africa.
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[edit]
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- 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[edit]
- Colias eurytheme, Alfalfa butterfly or Orange Sulphur
- Colias philodice, Common or Clouded Sulphur
- Pieris rapae, Cabbage White
- Pieris brassicae, Large White or Cabbage White
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e DeVries P. J. in Levin S.A. (ed) 2001 The Encyclopaedia of Biodiversity. Academic Press.
- ^ a b Carter, David, Butterflies and Moths (2000)
- ^ 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
References[edit]
- 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. ISBN 0-7513-2707-7.
- A New Subspecies of Eurema andersoni (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) from South India, O YATA, H GAONKAR - Entomological science, 1999 - ci.nii.ac.jp
Further reading[edit]
- 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)
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| Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pieridae&oldid=604576448 |
Introduction:
Pieridae are the sulphurs and whites, medium-sized mostly pale-colored butterflies with a world-wide distribution. There are some 1100 species.
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| Rights holder/Author | Dana Campbell, Leptree.net, Andrew V. Z. Brower, LepTree |
| Source | http://www.leptree.net/lep_taxon_page?id=92&scientificName=Pieridae |
Adults are pollinators, caterpillars can be important herbivores, limiting some plant populations.
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pieridae/ |
Diversity description:
This family is composed of about 1051 species in 76 genera. The most speciose genera are: Colotis, Delias, Colias, Catasticta, Eurema and Belenois.
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| Rights holder/Author | Dana Campbell, Leptree.net, Andrew V. Z. Brower, LepTree |
| Source | http://www.leptree.net/lep_taxon_page?id=92&scientificName=Pieridae |
Caterpillars hide, and have camouflage colors. A few species make nests of silk to hide in.
Adults fly during the day, and hide at night.
Some species collect toxic chemicals from their food plants.
They may have toxic chemicals from their food
Known Predators:
- Aves
- Soricidae (eat pupae)
- Sigmodontinae (eat pupae)
- Anura (eat adults)
- Araneae, especially crab spiders and orb-weavers (eat adults)
- Formicidae (eat caterpillars)
- Hymenoptera (eat caterpillars and adults)
- mantids (eat adults)
- Diptera (eat caterpillars)
- Coccinellidae (eat eggs)
- Chrysopidae (eat eggs)
- Acari (eat eggs)
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pieridae/ |
Pieridae are the sulphurs and whites, medium-sized mostly pale-colored butterflies with a world-wide distribution. There are some 1100 species.
| License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
| Rights holder/Author | Andrew V. Z. Brower, Tree of Life web project |
| Source | http://tolweb.org/Pieridae/12176 |
These butterflies communicate mainly with their scent and their colors. Males attract mates with scent and display, and females leave a scent mark on plants where they have laid eggs.
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pieridae/ |
Pieridae (White and Sulfur Butterflies)
These small- to medium-sized butterflies fall into two major subfamilies, which will be described. Pierinae (Whites): The White butterflies have white wings with black dots or bars. A few species, such as the Marbles and Orangetips, have greenish yellow or bright orange patterns on their wings. The larvae are predominantly green, and feed almost exclusively on members of the Mustard family. The green or brown pupae are slung from a stem with a silk girdle. Adult Whites often nectar at the flowers of members of the Mustard family. Coliadinae (Sulfurs): The Sulfur butterflies have yellow or orange-yellow wings, with black bars or dots. Their caterpillars are green, often with pale white or yellow lateral stripes. They feed on various legumes (Bean family). Some species do not successfully overwinter in central or northern Illinois, such as Colias cesonia (Dogface Sulfur), but migrate northward during the summer from areas in the southern United States. They are important visitors of some prairie wildflowers.
- Hilty, J. Editor. 2014. Insect Visitors of Illinois Wildflowers. World Wide Web electronic publication. illinoiswildflowers.info, version (06/2014)
See: Abbreviations for Insect Activities, Abbreviations for Scientific Observers, References for behavioral observations
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| Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/flower_insects/files/lepidoptera.htm |
Like all butterflies, these have complete metamorphosis. The caterpillars that hatch from the eggs eat and grow fast. They do not make a coccoon, but do attach themselves to plants with silk threads. Species in cold climates hibernate as caterpillars or pupae, and may have more than one generation over the summer.
Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis
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| Rights holder/Author | ©1995-2012, The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors |
| Source | http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Pieridae/ |