Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae.It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, [note 1] on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. [2]
Papilio polyxenes, the (eastern) black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, [4] is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae , occurs in the Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon , rather than P. polyxenes .
Young caterpillars are black with lighter colored transverse stripes. Older larvae have two color forms. The more common form is green with yellow and white transverse stripes; the rarer form is black and banded with white and orange. In both forms, between the swollen thorax and the abdomen, there is a yellow, black, and bluish-white band.
Some lepidopterans blend with the surroundings, making them difficult to be seen by predators. Caterpillars can be shades of green that match their host plant. Others resemble inedible objects, such as twigs or leaves. The larvae of some species, such as the common Mormon and the western tiger swallowtail look like bird droppings. [72] [73]
The larvae are black with orange spots arranged in lines down the whole body. Their head's prothoracic shield, and the anal plate, are one color, either green or orange with small black dots. [3] A tail-like spine protruding from the back of the body is a typical for sphingid moth caterpillars, known as “hornworms”. [2]
The tortoiseshell butterflies that are found in the north usually have one brood a season, whereas further south these butterflies can have two broods. The ability to go through three generations of butterflies in a year is due to the tortoiseshell butterflies' decreased thermal requirement. The larvae of this butterfly are social. [8]
Larva: According to de la Chaumette (as noted by Moore), the larva of H. misippus has a cylindrical shape and is predominantly black, having an even darker black dorsal line that runs along its back. It is banded transversely with small, pale brown transverse tuberculated spots, contrasting against the dark body.
Caterpillars reach about 7 mm in length, and their appearance is primarily green with a yellow stripe at the sides and a darker green stripe on the back, and brown or black head usually obscured under the thorax. [6] In captivity, fed on an artificial diet, larvae come in highly variable colours, ranging from white through red to dark purple. [5]