Pieridae

Members of the Pieridae share characteristics

Small to medium with a light background colour- hence called 'whites and yellows' .None are tailed. The pigments are derived from waste products in the body

All six legs are used for walking and the tarsal claws are bifid (unlike Papilionidae)

The radial vein on the forewing usually has 3 or 4 branches

There is great variability amongst species and local populations from seasonal dimorphism

Some species can survive at extreme elevations of 4000m in the andes (e.g. Tatochila sp.)

Some genera (phoebis ) have secondary male sexual characters (patches of specialised scales) on the hindwing.

In general the sexes are similar in appearance ,but sexual dimorphism is seen

They often cluster in dense swarms at pools or banks of rivers - so called 'mud puddling' where they absorb salts from the liquid mud

Migratory behaviour is pronounced

Pupae are long and pointed at both ends ,attached to the host plant by the cremaster and supported by an abdominal girdle (Papilio use a thoracic girdle)

Food plants are from Leguminosae, Capparidaceae and Loranthaceae

There are 1100 species divided into 4 subfamilies

Coliadinae - yellows and sulphurs , may have sexual dimorphism , some (Colias) have wing patterns that are only visible by UV light

Dismorphiinae- Neotropical ,host plants Fabaceae

Pierinae- whites ,yellows and orange tips, often migratory and can eat valuable plants in the Brassicaceae family

Pseudopontiinae - only 1 genus in Africa

The word butterfly is believed to be derived from Gonepteryx rhamni ,called the 'butter coloured fly' by early naturalists