checkered white

not listed

N4 - Apparently Secure

S4S5B - Apparently Secure to Secure Breeding

not listed

Checkered white is a medium-sized butterfly. It is a southerly species and is uncommon in Minnesota.

There are two forms, the spring form and the summer form. On the summer form, the upperside of the wings are white with black and gray markings. On the male, the upperside of the forewing has a median rectangular spot near the leading edge, a ghostly median spot near the inner margin, two submarginal spots, and some checkering on the outer margin near the tip. The upperside of the hindwing is unmarked. Most of the female markings, including inner median spot, are dark gray. There is considerably more checkering on the outer margin of the forewing, and there is faint checkering on the outer margin of the hindwing.

The underside of the forewing of both sexes reflect the markings on the upperside. The underside of the female hindwing has a brownish-gold zig-zag pattern. The male hindwing is much paler.

Spring form individuals are slightly smaller. They have more and darker markings above, and more goldish-green outlining on the veins below.

The larva (caterpillar), known as the southern cabbageworm, is up to 1⅜″ long. It is striped longitudinally with yellow and gray to bluish-gray bands, and there is a pattern of small and even smaller shiny black spots, each with numerous short, bristle-like hairs (setae).

Wingspan: 1½″ to 2½″

Dry, open, disturbed areas: pastures, old fields, agricultural fields, and roadsides.

Two overlapping broods: Early June to August and July to mid-October

The female is sexually receptive and often mates on its first day of its adult life. It lays eggs singly, usually on the fruits, sometimes on the stems, of host plants. The eggs are yellowish, barrel-shaped, and ridged. The offspring of the second brood overwinters as a chrysalis, the pupal stage.

Mostly buds and flowers, but also leaves, of a variety of plants in the Mustard (Brassicaceae) Family.

Flower nectar of plants in the Mustard (Brassicaceae) and Aster (Asteraceae) families, and of alfalfa.

Sources

7, 21, 27, 29, 30.

Wisconsin Butterflies

Checkered white populations have drastically decreased in eastern Unites States, and the butterfly is now scarce or extirpated in some areas where it was once common. It is uncommon in Minnesota. It appears stable in the west. The cause of the decline is unknown, though habitat loss is certainly a contributor. It is possible that the extremely abundant introduced species cabbage white is displacing native whites, including checkered white. It is also possible that checkered white is a western and midwestern species that only sporadically became abundant in eastern agricultural fields. It remains to be seen whether the decline will continue to spread westward.

Male