Large white butterfly caterpillar
Photo from Cherie Palmer
Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus)
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pieridae
Size range
- Fully grown caterpillars 45mm long
Distribution
- First found in New Zealand in 2010.
- Also known in Europe and India
Life History
- Will feed on a range of host plants in the plant families :Brassicaceae, Capparaceae and Tropaeolaceae.
- Including nasturtium, wild radish, wall flowers, and alyssum.
- Eggs laid in batches 30–100. (Small white butterflies lay eggs singly or in pairs)