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Cabbage white butterfly in flight

Cabbage white

Cabbage whites are common butterflies of gardens and other flowery places, where they cause no harm at all. Their dirty-green-coloured caterpillars, on the other hand, can wreak havoc in vegetable gardens and on farms, where they quickly reduce cabbages and other brassica plants to mere stalks. The caterpillars are full of distasteful chemicals, so are not eaten by birds, however, one parasitic wasp species loves them: the wasp lays its eggs inside the caterpillar where they are eaten by the grubs. British populations are bolstered by migrants from the continent.

Scientific name: Pieris brassicae

Rank: Species

Common names:

  • Cabbage butterfly,
  • Large cabbage white,
  • Large white

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Distribution

The Cabbage white can be found in a number of locations including: Africa, Asia, Europe, Himalayas, Indian subcontinent, Mediterranean, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Cabbage white distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

About

The Large White, Pieris brassicae, also called Cabbage Butterfly, Cabbage White, or in India the Large Cabbage White, White cabbage butterfly is a butterfly in the family Pieridae.

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