Pieris napi (Linnaeus, 1758)


Pieris napi: Female (Memmingen, Southern Germany) [S] Pieris napi: Female (S-Germany, Sigmaringen, May 2013) [N] Pieris napi: Male (Memmingen, Southern Germany) [N] Pieris napi: Male, April 2010, Memmingen, Southern Germany) [N] Pieris napi: Female (Memmingen, September 2010) [S] Pieris napi: Mating (eastern Swabian Alb, Southern Germany, August 2010) [N] Pieris napi: Lower side [N] Pieris napi: Lower side [N] Pieris napi: Adult (Memmingen 2011) Pieris napi: Female (S-Germany, Sigmaringen, May 2013) [N] Pieris napi: Ovum (Memmingen, August 2011) [N] Pieris napi: L1 (Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: L2-larva (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: L2-larva (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: L3-larva (Memmingen, Southern Germany) [S] Pieris napi: Larva in penultimate instar (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: Larva in penultimate instar (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: Larva (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: Larva (e.o. Memmingen 2011) [S] Pieris napi: Larva (Memmingen, September 2010) [N] Pieris napi: Larva (Memmingen, September 2010) [N] Pieris napi: Larva [N] Pieris napi: Pupa [S] Pieris napi: Pupa [S] Pieris napi: Pupa [S] Pieris napi: Typical larval habitats are rather shady verges of forest roads with occurrence of Alliaria as here in the northern Upper Rhine Valley in Germany (September 2012) [N]

Host plants:
The caterpillar lives on mostly wild Brassicaceae, such as Alliaria petiolata or Cardamine species. It occurs occasionally on Reseda and rarely also capuchin cress (Tropaeolum). The caterpillars live only very rarely on cultivated cabbages.

Habitat:
Pieris napi is a ubiquist, but finds its optimum at woody places and in forest fringes. In the agricultural fields the butterfly is much less common than Pieris rapae.

Life cycle:
There are two or three, rarely even four generations between March and October. In the spring, Pieris napi is more common than in the autumn. This indicates that the generations are not complete. The pupa overwinters.

Endangerment factors:
Pieris napi is common and not endangered.

Remarks:
The distribution is ranging from North Africa across Europe and Asia to North America (Holarctic distribution type).



Pieris brassicae | Pieris bryoniae | Pieris cheiranthi | Pieris ergane | Pieris krueperi | Pieris mannii | Pieris rapae