It’s quite an effort to get a couple of shots of this off white butterfly because it’s in the air all the time. In the blazing mid day Sun, I followed this little creamy number from my backyard to the front…When the butterfly eventually landed near me for a brief second, it flutters nonstop. With the two characteristic black dots on its wings, I found the name to be European Cabbage Butterfly.
European Cabbage Butterfly
Contrary to the endangered Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, the Cabbage Butterfly is widespread and populations are found across Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Great Britain. It has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand where it causes damage to cultivated cabbages and other mustard family crops. The caterpillar stage alone is responsible for crop damage because of which it is referred to as the Imported Cabbageworm (Wikipedia).
Is this one coming from a cabbage?
According to my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders, in North America, the European Cabbage Butterfly was introduced accidentally near Montreal in the 1860s, this species has become an important pest. Bacterial and viral diseases now provide some biological control.
Besides diets, I wonder what makes this butterfly species thrive around the globe while the others languish??
European Cabbage Butterfly