Spring white facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Spring white |
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| Scientific classification | |
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5 subspecies, see text |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pieris sisymbrii |
The Spring white (Pontia sisymbrii) is a lovely butterfly. It is also called the California white or Colorado white. This butterfly belongs to the Pieridae family. You can find it in the mountains of western Canada and the United States.
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Discover the Spring White Butterfly
The Spring white butterfly is mostly white. It has small black markings on its wings. Female butterflies might have a yellowish color. These butterflies look similar to other "checkered whites." Some of these are the Pontia beckerii and the Pontia protodice.
How Big Are Spring White Butterflies?
The distance from one wingtip to the other is called the wingspan. For the Spring white butterfly, this is about 31 to 40 millimeters. That's roughly the size of a large paperclip!
What Do Spring White Caterpillars Eat?
Butterflies lay their eggs on specific plants. These plants are called "host plants." The caterpillars hatch and eat these plants. For the Spring white butterfly, their host plants are in the Brassicaceae family. This family is also known as the mustard family.
Some of the plants their caterpillars like to eat include:
- Caulanthus
- Streptanthus
- Sisymbrium altissimum
- Arabis glabra
- Arabis furcata
- Arabis holboelli
Subspecies of the Spring White
Scientists have found different types of the Spring white butterfly. These are called subspecies. They are all slightly different but still the same main butterfly. Here are the known subspecies, listed in alphabetical order:
- Pontia sisymbrii elivata (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926)
- Pontia sisymbrii flavitincta (Comstock, 1924)
- Pontia sisymbrii nigravenosa Austin & Emmel, ?2003
- Pontia sisymbrii sisymbrii
- Pontia sisymbrii transversa Holland, 1995
