Thursday Invertebrate Blogging: Sluuuurp!!!

I've been busy working 10 hour days with a 3-4 hour roundtrip commute, so my posting has been a little sporadic of late. However, neither rain nor snow nor paperwork will prevent me from posting a weekly photo of our spineless friends (local politicians excluded, of course).

This week's invertebrate is either a "Cabbage White" (Pieris rapae) or a "Large White" (Pieris brassicae) butterfly.

Given the size (winspan 2.5") of the specimen in this photograph, I'm guessing it's probably a large white very big cabbage white (see the update). This photo was taken earlier this spring. Apparently the black edging on the wings gets darker in late summer and early autumn variants. According to Butterflies of New York, this species enjoys feasting on cabbage as a caterpillar, but switches to a more sophisticated diet of thistles (pictured) and butterfly bushes as an adult.

UPDATE: Apparently large whites are rare in New York, so I'm changing my identification to cabbage white. Part of the confusion may be due to the fact that the dietary preferences of these two butterflies appears to have been confused at the Butterflies of New York website. I should have supected as much when P. brassicae was said to dine on cabbage as a larva, and P. rapae was said to dine on plants in the mustard (Brassicaceae) family.

Oh well, live and learn.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Eeeek! Dave, where are you commuting to that is so far away?

[Sunidesus]

I second Jessamy, lovely photo!

[Jessamy]

I love that first picture. Its eyes are gorgeous, and the tongue almost looks airbrushed in. So beautiful.