Small White Butterfly

Pieris rapae/ Artogeia rapae

Photos have been downgraded in size and quality for Internet bandwidth; copyright e-barrett

For identification of butterflies, both the top and side views are shown.

The Small White butterfly, one of the two "cabbage whites", has an elongated black mark at the back of the leading edge of the forewing but it is not curved round the corner like

that of the Large White. The female (above) has two black spots on the topside of each forewing; in some cases it looks like three black spots, two of which are very close together.

The male Small White (above) has one black or grey spot on each forewing and the corner mark is usually less distinct than that of the female

Both have a pale yellow underside slightly mottled with grey

Small Whites coupled; smaller female has three small black dots together and one black blob

Rarely, the male may appear completely white

Side, female

Side, male

 
   

 

Large White

Green-veined White

Orange-tip

  
       
   
   

Southern Small White Butterfly

Pieris mannii/ Artogeia mannii

 

On the Southern Small White butterfly, prevalent in southern Europe and overlapping territories with the Small White, the outer black mark extends round the topside of the forewing

slightly (but not as much as on the Large White). The above photos taken in Tenerife, where the Small White co-exists with the Southern Small White (and the Canary Large White).
  The black on the wing "corner" of this Southern Small White butterfly could almost be mistaken for the Large White, except that it was in Tenerife, where the conventional Large White is replaced by a different-looking native species (Canary Large White, -- has large black square on wing).