82 BUTTERFLIES 



THE WHITES, ORANGE-TIPS, AND YELLOWS 



Family Pieridae 



The most familiar and abundant American butterflies 

 are classified together under the family name Pieridae, 

 or the Pierids. Three groups or tribes of them are popu- 

 larly known as the Whites, the Orange-tips, and the 

 Yellows. Our two commonest butterflies, the White or 

 Imported Cabbage Butterfly and the Sulphur Yellow 

 Butterfly, are typical representatives of this family. 

 Most of the rest, like these, are of moderate size with 

 rounded wings which are more or less marked with 

 black. There are six well-developed legs and the cater- 

 pillars of practically all the species are cylindrical 

 greenish worms which under a lens are seen to be 

 covered with short hairs. When the caterpillars are 

 ready to change to chrysalids they spin a web of silk 

 upon the supporting surface and just back of it, a loop 

 of silk that serves to hold the chrysalis in place and 

 keep it from swaying back and forth. The chrysahds are 

 characterized by having a pointed projection on the front 

 of the head, the rest of the body being more or less 

 angular. 



Notwithstanding their close general resemblance to 

 their food plants, the caterpillars of this family suffer from 

 attack by various enemies. Birds find many of them, not 

 only eating them themselves but also using them freely 

 for feeding the nestlings. Parasitic insects also take a 

 heavy toll from these caterpillars. This attack of enemies 

 is doubtless a chief reason why many of the common spe- 

 cies are not much more destructive. 



