Margined white
Pieris marginalis
The margined white is a white butterfly from western North America. In summer it is pure white. In spring its front wings have black tips, and underneath its wing veins are lined with green or grey.
Lives in
Along the west coast of North America
Wingspan
3.8 to 5.7 cm (1.5 to 2.2 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The grown-ups drink from flowers. The caterpillars eat plants of the cabbage and mustard family.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
🧱wings as wide as 2 toy building bricks⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 25 seconds
How big is Margined white compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Margined white about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Spring and summer butterflies look different: only the spring ones have black wing tips.
2
It can live both in wild places and near places that people have changed.
3
Its caterpillars eat wild plants related to cabbage.
you asked
Most asked questions about Margined white
?What does the margined white eat?
Its caterpillars eat plants of the cabbage family. The grown-ups drink nectar.
?How big is the margined white?
Its open wings measure about 3.8 to 5.7 cm across.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pieris marginalis
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Pieridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Pieridae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Pieris marginalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by VJAnderson. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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