Pieridae: White and Sulphur Butterflies

Pieridae: White and Sulphur Butterflies Cabbage White Checkered White Great Southern White Margined White Pine White Orangetip Western White Sulphur Butterflies Cloudless Sulphur Dainty Sulphur Large Orange Sulphur Little Yellow Lyside Sulphur Mimosa Yellow Orange Sulphur Sleepy Orange Southern Dogface Tailed Orange Butterfly Pictures

The Pieridae family of butterflies, more commonly knows as the whites (Pierinae) and sulphurs (Coliadinae), are relatively abundant species throughout the United States.

With a little less than one hundred species documented in the United States, a handful of different species are present at any given location during butterfly season.

Mimic-Whites (Dismorphiinae), an additional group in the family, are represented by only one species, Costa-spotted Mimic-White (Enantia albania), a rare visitor to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Initial field identification of Pierinae and Coliadinae is normally, but not always, a straight forward task because their common names reflect wing color.

Approximately thirty white butterfly species are documented in the United States.

Some species such as the Cabbage White, are found in gardens and fields across the United States. Other species such as the Great Southern White have a more limited geographical range.

Marbles (Euchloe) and Orangetips (Anthocharis) are primarily Western species.

The sulphur butterflies link in the box on the left points to additional information on the Coliadinae as a butterfly group.

Please click on any link to learn more about any Pieridae species. The butterfly pictures link leads to information on the other butterfly families.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels