Overview
The Pieridae are a large of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia.1] Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots. The pigments that give the distinct coloring to these butterflies are derived from waste products in the body and are a characteristic of this family.[2]
It is believed that the name "butterfly" originated from a member of this family — the Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni — which was called the "butter-colored fly" by early British naturalists.[2]
The sexes usually differ, often in the pattern or number of the black markings.
The larvae (caterpillars) of a few of these species, such as Pieris brassicae and Pieris rapae, commonly seen in gardens, feed on brassicas, and are notorious agricultural pests.
Males of many species exhibit gregarious mud-puddling behavior when they may imbibe salts from moist soils.[1]
Classification
The Pieridae have the radial vein on the forewing with 3 or 4 branches and rarely with 5 branches. The fore legs are well developed in both sexes, unlike in the Nymphalidae, and the tarsal claws are bifid unlike in the Papilionidae.[3]
Like the Papilionidae, Pieridae also have their pupae held at an angle by a silk girdle, but running at the first abdominal segment unlike the thoracic girdle seen in the Papilionidae.
Subfamilies
The Pieridae are generally divided into the following four subfamilies:
- Dismorphiinae (6 genera) Mostly Neotropical, this group includes several mimetical species. The host plants are in the family Fabaceae.[1]
- Pierinae (55 genera) Whites, Yellow, Orange-tips, many of these species are strongly migratory. Host plants are in the families Capparidaceae, Brassicaceae, Santalaceae, and Loranthaceae.[1]
- Coliadinae (14 genera) (Sulphurs or Yellows, many of these species are sexually dimorphic. Some, such as Colias, have wing patterns that are visible only under ultraviolet.[1]
- Pseudopontiinae The sole species in this subfamily, Pseudopontia paradoxa, is endemic to West Africa.
According to the molecular phylogenetic study of Braby et al. (2006), sister group relationships among Pieridae subfamilies are: ((Dismorphiinae+Pseudopontiinae)+(Coliadinae+Pierinae)).
Some Popular Species
- Brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni
- California dogface butterfly, Zerene eurydice
- Catalina Orangetip< /a>, Anthocharis cethura catalina
- Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae
- Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus
- Orange Tip, Anthocharis cardamines
- Psyche Butterfly, Leptosia nina
Some Pest Species
- Colias eurytheme, Alfalfa butterfly or Orange Sulphur
- Colias philodice, Common or Clouded Sulphur
- Pieris rapae, Cabbage White
- Pieris brassicae, Large White or Cabbage White
Photos
Taxonomy
The Family Pieridae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Subfamily (4): Coliadinae · Dismorphiinae · Pierinae · Pseudopontiinae
- Tribe (2): Colotini · Pierini
- Genus (49): Abaeis · Anapheis · Anteos · Anthocharis · Aphrissa · Aporia · Appias · Artogeia · Ascia · Catasticta · Catopsila · Catopsilla · Colias · Collas · Daptoneura · Dinas · Elphinstonia · Enantia · Euchloe · Eurema · Falcapica · Ganyra · Gonepterix · Hesperocharis · Hyantis · Inga · Itaballia · Kicogonia · Kricogonia · Leptophobia · Mathania · Melete · Metaporia · Midea · Nathalis · Neophasia · Pareronia · Phoebis · Pieriballia · Pieris · Pomona · Pontia · Pseudopontia · Pyrisitia · Rhabdodryas · Statira · Tatochila · Terias · Zerene
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 3,159 species and subspecies in the Family Pieridae.
Genera
Abaeis
Anapheis
Anteos
Anthocharis
Anthocharis is a genus of the tribe Anthocharini, in the Pieridae family. These are typically small, white-hued butterflies that have colorful marks just inside the tips of the forewings. The tip colors are usually a red-orange hue, hence the name "Orange Tip". The larvae of these butterfly often consume cruciferous plants containing chemicals called glucosinolates. Species and sub-species belonging to the Anthocharis genus include: [more]
Aphrissa
Aporia
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia. [more]
Appias
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[1] [more]
Artogeia
Ascia
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[2] [more]
Catasticta
Catopsila
Catopsilla
Colias
Colias is a of butterflies in the family Pieridae. They are usually called clouded yellows; the North American name "sulphurs" is elsewhere used for Coliadinae in general. The closest living relative is the genus Zerene, which is sometimes included in Colias. [more]
Collas
Daptoneura
Dinas
Elphinstonia
Enantia
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia. [more]
Euchloe
Euchloe is a of pierid butterflies from the orangetip tribe (Anthocharini). They are Holarctic in distribution, with most species in Europe, Central Asia and North America. Like other Anthocharini, the American species are usually called "marbles"; the Old World species are known as dappled whites. [more]
Eurema
Eurema is a widespread genus of grass yellow in the family Pieridae. Species range from Asia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania, to the New World. The type species is the North American Virginia grass yellow. [more]
Falcapica
Ganyra
Gonepterix
Hesperocharis
Hyantis
Inga
Inga is a of tropical trees and shrubs, member of the infrafamily Ingeae. Inga's leaves are pinnate, and flowers are generally white. Many of the hundreds of species are used ornamentally. [more]
Itaballia
Kicogonia
Kricogonia
Leptophobia
Mathania
Melete
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia. [more]
Metaporia
Midea
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[3] [more]
Nathalis
Neophasia
Pareronia
Pareronia is a genus of of subfamily Pierinae of family Pieridae. [more]
Phoebis
Pieriballia
Pieris
A genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[4] [more]
Pomona
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia.[5] [more]
Pontia
Pontia is a genus of butterflies. [more]
Pseudopontia
Pseudopontia paradoxa is a species of native to tropical Central and West Africa. It is the only species in the genus Pseudopontia and the subfamily Pseudopontiinae. [more]
Pyrisitia
Rhabdodryas
Statira
Tatochila
A Genus in the Kingdom Animalia. [more]
Terias
Zerene
At least 5 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Zerene.
More info about the Genus Zerene may be found here.
References
- Braby, M. F. 2005. Provisional checklist of genera of the Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Zootaxa 832: 1–16.
- Braby, M., R. Vila, and N. E. Pierce. 2006. Molecular phylogeny and systematics of the Pieridae (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: higher classification and biogeography. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 147(2): 239-275.
- Carter, David. 2000. Butterflies and Moths (2/ed). Dorling Kindersley, London. ISBN 0 7513 2707 7.
- A New Subspecies of Eurema andersoni (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) from South India, O YATA, H GAONKAR - Entomological science, 1999 - ci.nii.ac.jp
Footnotes
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Appias&search=Search
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Ascia&search=Search
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Midea&search=Search
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Pieris&search=Search
- http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Pomona&search=Search
- ^ a b c d e DeVries P. J. in Levin S.A. (ed) 2001 The Encyclopaedia of Biodiversity. Academic Press.
- ^ a b Carter, David, Butterflies and Moths (2000)
- ^ Borror, D. J., Triplehorn, C. A., & Johnson, N. F. (1989). An introduction to the study of insects (6th ed.). Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishers. ISBN 0030253977
Sources
- The text on this page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes material from Wikipedia retrieved Thursday, August 13, 2009.
- The distribution map on the Distribution tab comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is used with permission.
- Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
- The GMapImageCutter is used under license from the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.
- The technology underlying this page, including the Image Browser and controls behind Keep Exploring, is owned by the BayScience Foundation. All rights are reserved.