Cabbage White

1. Insects
2. Cabbage White

The photo shows a Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae) butterfly feeding on the flower nector. The butterfly is named after its large black marking on its wings -- Mon-Shiro-Chou (marking-white-butterfly) in Japanese. The markings are on the tip of the upper wing, on the center of the upper wing, on the lower side of the upper wing, and on top of the lower wing.

Life cycle of Cabbage White, Pieris rapae

	The cabbage white butterflies can be sighted near Brassicaceae (mustard) family plants from early summer seasons between June and July to well into October. If you watch the butterflies carefully, you might encounter one of female butterflies laying eggs on the leaves, as shown in the photo.
	The eggs are usually laid on the back side of the leaves.
	The larva hatches in a few days. The process is quite dramatic. First, the eyes appear inside the egg. Then the larva swung its body to move out of the egg shells. When it fully got out, it walks out for a while, then -- turn itself back toward the egg shell. The photo shows the larva eating the egg shell.
	The larva is pale green in color and is almost transparent when it is small.
	Soon, the larva become green in color. The larva constantly eats away the leaves and the growth is rapid (chart).
	In a few weeks, the larva became a pupa. The pupa at first is green in color. In a few days, the color turns into pale brown.
	After a week staying in the pupa form, the butterfly emerged from the pupa as shown in the photo.

Cabbage White, Pieris rapae
Monshiro-chou
Funabashi, Chiba, Japan
July 2006 to August 2006