Large White
Large White
Insect
A big, brilliant-white butterfly with black wingtips, often seen fluttering over gardens and allotments. Its caterpillars are the famous 'cabbage whites' that nibble vegetable leaves.
💡 Fun Facts
- The Large White is often called the 'cabbage white' because its caterpillars munch through cabbage leaves in gardens and allotments.
- Its bold yellow-and-black caterpillars taste horrible to birds, thanks to the mustard oils they soak up from their food plants.
- Large Whites are strong fliers, and extra butterflies sometimes arrive in summer after crossing the sea from mainland Europe.
📅 Through the Year
- Active:April to October
Name Story
Pieris brassicae
means “the Muse of the cabbage”
What does its name mean?
- Pieris — a MuseGreek, one of the Muses — goddesses of music and art
- brassicae — of the cabbageLatin brassica ‘cabbage’
Its name holds a Muse, one of the Greek goddesses of art, paired with the humble cabbage its caterpillars love to nibble. Not a single word about its white wings!