White butterflies add a touch of peaceful beauty to North Carolina’s diverse butterfly population. This guide introduces you to the species you can find across the state. Learn about the different species of white butterflies, their unique behaviors, and where to observe them in the wild.

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White Butterflies Found In North Carolina

Cabbage White Butterfly

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Lepidoptera

Family

Pieridae

Genus

Pieris

Species

P. rapae

Binomial Name

Pieris rapae

  • Formerly named Artogeia rapae
  • Native to Eurasia, humans accidentally introduced the Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae) into Quebec in 1860 (Pyle 1981). It spread quickly across the United States and is now one of the most widely distributed butterfly species in North America.
    • Cabbage White butterflies even fly around in midtown Manhattan (Glassberg 2002).
  • Scientists introduced a parasitic wasp species (Cotesia glomerata) in an attempt to control the spread of the Cabbage White butterfly species in the United States.
    • Unfortunately, this wasp appears to have sent a northern, native species, the Mustard White butterfly (Pieris napi), into a severe decline (Wagner 2005).
  • This species also has the distinction of being one of the very few butterfly pests; its bright green caterpillars feed on cruciferous plants, such as broccoli and cabbage.

Cabbage White Butterfly Images

How To Identify Cabbage White Butterflies

  • Wingspan: 1.25 – 1.9 inches (3.1 – 4.8 cm)
  • Above:
    • Both fore wings and hind wings are white and tipped with faint charcoal gray.
    • Fore wings are dotted with at least one black spot.
    • The number of black wing spots vary by sex:
      • Males have one wing spot.
      • Females have two wing spots.
  • Below:
    • Color ranges from white to yellow.
    • Both sexes have only one black wing spot on the underside of their fore wings.
    • Hind wings are unmarked on both sexes.
  • The markings on early spring individuals may be paler than those seen on adults later in the flight season (Glassberg 1999).

How to Find Cabbage White Butterflies

  • Flight Season: Adults fly throughout the summer months, starting after the last hard frost in the spring and up to the first hard frost in the fall.
    • Usually early March through late November.
  • Cabbage White butterflies have three or more broods per season (Pyle 1981).
  • Look for Cabbage White butterflies in almost every habitat in North Carolina that is both sunny and contains plants in flower; they are both widely distributed and abundant.
    • They are especially easy to find in home gardens planted with Mustard family plants, including:
      • Cabbage
      • Broccoli
      • Cauliflower
      • Brussels sprouts
      • Kale
  • Cabbage White butterflies fly well but erratically and often swerve around.
    • They tend to fly higher than many butterflies when traveling from flower to flower.
    • They are easy to observe when they land but don’t stay perched for long; they feed quickly, then fly off to the next bloom.

How to Identify Cabbage White Eggs, Caterpillars, And Chrysalises

Eggs

  • Female Cabbage White butterflies lay pale, yellowish, vase-shaped eggs (Pyle 1981) one at a time on host plants (Daniels 2003).

Caterpillars

  • Cabbage White grow to about 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) long.
  • Lime-green bodies, with a faint, lengthwise yellow stripe, and broken yellow side stripes along their respiratory spiracles.
  • Covered in tiny bristles and tiny black spots that are only visible when viewed extremely close-up (Wagner 2005).
  • In home gardens, look for Cabbage White caterpillars on:
    • Cabbage
    • Broccoli
    • Brussels sprouts
    • Kale
    • Kohlrabi
    • Cultivated species of nasturtium (Pyle 1981)
  • Outside of home gardens, look for Cabbage White caterpillars on:
    • Wild plants in the Mustard family (Brassicaceae) like:
      • Early Yellowrocket (Barbarea verna)
      • Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
      • Wild Radish (Raphanus raphanistrum)
      • With over 350 genera and 3,000 species of mustard plants in the northern hemisphere, this butterfly species finds food easily.

Chrysalises

  • Cabbage White chrysalises are approximately 0.75 inches (1.9cm) long and are longer than they are wide.
  • Lime-green, speckled with green and tan (Pyle 1981), and have two lengthwise ridges that run from the bottom point to the thickest middle section and end in brown-colored peaks.
  • Lie against the surfaces of plant leaves, anchored at both ends with silk.