PIERIDAE
A large family of medium-sized to very large butterflies; the British species are mainly white and
yellow. The adults have three pairs of functional legs of nearly equal size, the inner margin of the
hindwing is slightly convex and the tips of the antennae are not curved outwards. Some species are
migratory. The larvae are velvety, coated with short hairs, and usually some shade of green and/or
yellow. Each species is monophagous or oligophagous, the four commonest 'whites' feeding on
cruciferous plants. The pupa is attached by silk-pad and girdle to a plant-stem or some solid support
usually away from the larval food-plant. The surviving British species overwinter in the pupal stage
with the exception of the brimstone which hibernates as an adult insect All six British residents have
been found in Essex and five are common in the county. The other species are migrants or now extinct
in Britain.
Leptidea sinapis (Linn.) Wood White
pl 31. Present status unknown, very rare. Formerly (in 19th century) very local resident. 43 One in
a W. Essex wood on 19 May 1976 (precise locality and recorder's name withheld), the year after one
had been seen nearby in Hertfordshire, is the only subsequent record.
Colias hyale (Linn.) Pale Clouded Yellow
p25. Migrant, now rare. This species occurred in many years and periodically was fairly plentiful,
up to 1951, but since 1971 when one occurred at 00 Dengie (AJD), the only definite record is of one in
the same locality in 1983 (CB et al.); however a Colias, which was considered to have been of this
species, was seen at 41 Harlow in 1980 (EC).
Colias croceus (Geoffr.) Clouded Yellow
p25. Migrant. This species still occurs annually but between 1952 (prior to which it had been
common every few years and occasionally very common) and 1982 it was mainly very scarce except
that moderate numbers occurred in 1959. However, 1983 saw the largest immigration since 1947, the
butterfly having been reported (sometimes in numbers) from many localities between early July and
early November. A number of the post-1969 map-dots refer solely to this year.
Gonepteryx rhamni (Linn.) The Brimstone
p26. Resident, widespread and locally common. Fairly common in most well-timbered districts,
this attractive butterfly, which is such a feature of the spring when it emerges from hibernation, has a
strong tendency to wander and is seen from time to time in most parts of the County, occasionally even
in the centre of large towns or the more exposed parts of the coast.
Aporia crataegi (Linn.) Black-veined White
pl31. No recent record (extinct in Britain). This fine white was last seen in Essex c.1879*.
43