Pieris (butterfly)
Pieris, the whites or garden whites, is a widespread, now almost cosmopolitan, genus of butterflies of the family Pieridae. The highest species diversity is in the Palearctic, with a higher diversity in Europe and eastern North America than the similar and closely related Pontia. The females of many Pieris butterflies are UV reflecting, while the male wings are strongly UV absorbing due to pigments in the scales.
Ecology
Many species of this genus have caterpillars which feed on cabbage and other members of the Brassicaceae. The chemical basis of this association with a certain plant group has been studied for over 100 years, and is now known to occur via a number of biochemical adaptations to chemicals called glucosinolates in these plants. In contrast to most other insects, Pieris caterpillars are able to detoxify these chemicals, and have become so specialised that they will not eat any food without glucosinolates. The Pieris females, in turn, check for the presence of glucosinolates before laying eggs on a plant. The crop-damaging species have spread from Eurasia to most of the rest of the world and are considered pest insects almost everywhere. There are species of Pieris that are not pests, such as the North American species Pieris oleracea and Pieris virginiensis. These butterflies feed successfully only on specific native vegetation.Some members of Pieris are threatened by the rapid spread of some plants in the Brassicaceae, such as the way the highly invasive garlic mustard kills the larvae of Pieris oleracea and Pieris virginiensis in North America. Given the large differences between the chemicals that garlic mustard creates versus those of mustards native to North America, it is likely that it is also lethal to other members of Pieris that are native to North America. It is listed as a suitable food plant for the Eurasian Veined white. Having not evolved with garlic mustard, the aforementioned American butterflies lay eggs on it, confusing it with their host plants due to a similar odor. Just because butterflies are members of Pieris does not mean they are all capable of feeding on the same members of Brassicaceae that other members of Pieris can feed on.
Species and notable subspecies
Arranged alphabetically:Pieris ajaka Moore, 1865 Pieris angelika Eitschberger, 1983 – Arctic whitePieris balcana Lorkovic, 1970 – Balkan green-veined white Pieris bowdeni Eitschberger, 1984 Pieris brassicae – large white or large cabbage whitePieris brassicoides Guérin-Méneville, 1849Pieris bryoniae – dark-veined white or mountain green-veined whitePieris canidia – Indian cabbage whitePieris cheiranthi – Canary Islands' large white Pieris chumbiensis – Chumbi whitePieris davidis Oberthür, 1876 Pieris deota – Kashmir whitePieris dubernardi Oberthür, 1884 Pieris dulcinea Pieris eitschbergeri Lukhtanov, 1996 - may be synonym of Pieris deotaPieris ergane – mountain small whitePieris erutae Poujade, 1888 Pieris euorientis Pieris extensa Poujade, 1888 - sometimes in PontiaPieris krueperi Staudinger, 1860 – Krueper's small white- * Pieris krueperi devta – green-banded whitePieris lama Sugiyama, 1996 Pieris mahometana Pieris mannii – southern small whitePieris marginalis Scudder, 1861 – margined white
- * Pieris marginalis reicheli Eitschberger, 1983 – Reichel's margined whitePieris meckyae Eitschberger, 1983 – Mecky's white may be subspecies of Pieris marginalisPieris melete Ménétriés, 1857 – grey-veined white Pieris naganum Moore, 1884 – Naga whitePieris napi – green-veined white or veined whitePieris narina Pieris nesis Fruhstorfer, 1909 Pieris ochsenheimeri Pieris oleracea Harris, 1829 – mustard white
- * Pieris oleracea frigida Scudder, 1861 – Newfoundland whitePieris persis Pieris pseudorapae Pieris rapae – small white or cabbage whitePieris shangrilla Tadokoro, Shinkawa & Wang, 2013Pieris steinigeri Eitschberger, 1984 Pieris tadjika Grum-Grshimailo, 1888 Pieris virginiensis – West Virginia white