PIERINAE , PIERIDAE , PAPILIONOIDEA
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)
The Caterpillar of this species is green with yellow dots and white hairs. When resting, it often lies along a midrib of a foodplant leaf. It feeds on fresh young leaves and shoots of various species of Capparis, CAPPARACEAE, including:
The adult butterflies are white with broad black margins containing white spots. The wings tend to grey at the bases.
The undersides have a similar pattern to the upper surfaces, except the base colour is yellow or even brown in the dry season form. The wingspan is about 4 cms.
The eggs are cream coloured, and spindle shaped with ribs. They are often laid singly on young shoots of a foodplant.
This species occurs as various races across south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific, including
The subpecies scyllara (Macleay, 1826) occurs in Australia, including
(Courtesy of Kraft Australia)
Norfolk Island 1976
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 323-324.
Life history notes on the Caper Gull, Cepora perimale scyllara (Donovan, 1805) Lepidoptera: Pieridae,
Metamorphosis Australia Issue 70 (September 2013), pp. 21-23,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.
(updated 1 January 2012, 28 January 2014)