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Pieris napi
This is a common butterfly of damp grassland and woodland rides and is often mistaken for its cousin, the Small White. It can be found from spring through to autumn in parks and gardens, as well as less-urban areas such as meadows and woodland rides. The first brood has lighter upperside markings than later broods, but darker underside markings. The so-called green veins on the underside of the adults are, in fact, an illusion created by a subtle combination of yellow and black scales.
The butterfly can be found in a variety of locations, including parks, gardens, meadows, woodland rides, hedgerows and, in fact, anywhere foodplants and nectar sources exist. This species favours damp areas but can also be found in small sheltered pockets, such as patches of scrub, in dry and open habitat such as chalk grassland.
I hope I didn't mistake it for a Small White.
Spotted on Jun 5, 2010
Submitted on May 20, 2012
3 Comments
Thank you! I ended up thinking about the same aspects (generation, variability) and loved this one butterfly even more. The green shades are a bit more concentrated around the veins so I left it at Napi, but nature can be surprising sometimes.
Pieris napi is correct.
I am absolutely not sure about this one. Might actually be Napi, although the veins are not so strong as they usually are, but could also be Rapae. June would probably mean first generation but they both have a great variability within the species and generations. At first sight I slightly tne to Pieris napi.