White Butterflies

Pieridae: White Butterflies Cabbage White Checkered White Great Southern White Margined White Pine White Orangetip Western White Yellow Butterflies Butterfly Pictures

The Pieridae family of butterflies, more commonly knows as the whites (Pierinae) and sulphur or yellow butterflies (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.

© 2008 Patricia A. Michaels