Sunday, July 23, 2023

butterfly of the day


I believe this is some kind of Cabbage White - probably pieris rapae, or the Small Cabbage White, because pieris brassicae is not only bigger, but has dark patches at the end of its wings.  On the other hand, this butterfly seems to have a very badly chewed set of wings, so one can hardly tell.  The other day I saw a mockingbird with a butterfly - or moth - in its beak, so there are definitely predators out there: perhaps it had a lucky escape?  Anyway, it's much enjoying the catmint, and since I'm not growing cabbages, I hope that its caterpillars will find lots to feed on somewhere else.  Inevitably, it's an invasive species - native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, it was accidentally introduced to Canada around 1860 and, well, spread.  I don't think it'll find a space in my book pages, though ...

 

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