A medium white butterfly, with black tips to the forewing upperside, and with pale yellow hindwing underside. The male and female are similar, the male has one black spot and the female two black spots on the forewing upperside. Both have two black spots on the forewing underside. The first brood markings can be faint. The black apical patch on the forewing upperside, which is more along the costa (leading edge) of the wing, than along the margin, enables separation from other members of the genius which it can be easily confused with.
Ubiquitous - found everywhere.
Arabis Arabis collina (flowers white to purplish-pink), Arabis Arabis turrita (flowers pale yellow), Arabis Arabis verna (flowers white to pale violet), Mustard Brassica cretica, Black Mustard Brassica nigra, Turnip or Field Mustard Brassica rapa (cultivated & naturalised), Swine-cress Lepidium coronopus, Lesser Swinecress Lepidium didymum, Hoary Cress Lepidium draba, White Mustard Sinapis alba (yellow flowers), Hedge Mustard Sisymbrium officinale, Wild Mignonette Reseda lutea, Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus - introduced.
Whilst this highly migratory species clearly breeds on Corfu, population numbers must be massively inflated by migration events. Its use of Brassicas and Nasturtiums as host plants makes it widely considered a pest.
*The information provided in the tables below is based on verified sightings of the Small White submitted via this website since 1st January 2021.
Year | First | Last/latest | # Days |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | 02/01/2023 | 07/06/2023 | 156 days |
2022 | 04/02/2022 | 26/12/2022 | 325 days |
2021 | 10/02/2021 | 24/11/2021 | 287 days |
Year | Number of observations |
---|---|
2023 | 291 |
2022 | 553 |
2021 | 248 |
Grand Total | 1092 |
The chart below shows flight data by month for 2023 submitted online since 1st January 2023 to 8th June 2023.
The chart below shows flight data by month based on all data submitted online since 1st January 2019 to 8th June 2023.
For a list of references, please see our bibliography page.