I was surprised to see this Cabbage White late in the evening. My understanding was that butterflies are cold-blooded insects that can only fly well when their body temperatures are above 70 degrees F (about 21 degrees C). It was at least 5 degrees F below the threshold in my front yard that early evening. Sure enough, this cabbage white was just parking on a flower with little movement.
Before I could utter “What a photo opportunity!”, a small spider underneath the yellow flower seized the butterfly…
A Spider caught a Cabbage White Butterfly
Mosquitoes celebrated an early Christmas on me while I was recording the last moment of this white number. There was little struggling from the butterfly under the half spent flower. While maintaining a strangle hold on her prey, the spider didn’t immediately proceed to work on her gift wrap. And I couldn’t stay outside with the mosquitoes no more. 
Cabbage White Butterfly peacefully meets her end
When I returned to the same spot the following morning, there was nothing left for me to photograph. No silk cocoon, no spider and certainly no more white butterfly… Then it dawned on me that I witnessed a spider caught her prey with her bare “hands” without the aid of a net. Wow! 
I bet the spider injected the butterfly with her venom