The Spring White, California White, or Colorado White (Pontia sisymbrii) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the family Pieridae

Pieridae

The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...

. It is found in mountainous areas of western Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the USA.

It is mostly white with small black markings; females may be yellowish. Similar to other checkered whites such as, Pontia beckerii

Pontia beckerii

The Becker's White, Great Basin White, or Sagebrush White is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in western USA to Baja California and in southern British Columbia....

, Pontia protodice

Pontia protodice

The Checkered White , also called Southern Cabbage Butterfly, is a common North American butterfly in the family Pieridae. Its green larva is a type of cabbage worm.- Description :...

, and Pontia occidentalis

Pontia occidentalis

The Western White is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in Western North America.The wingspan is 38 to 53 millimeters. The host plants are from the Brassicaceae family. The caterpillars eat especially the flowers, buds and fruit...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 31 to 40 millimeters.

The host plants are Cruciferae, Caulanthus

Caulanthus

Caulanthus is a genus of plants in the mustard family. Plants of this genus may be known as jewelflowers. They are also often referred to as wild cabbage, although this common name usually refers to wild variants of Brassica oleraceae, the cabbage plant...

, Streptanthus

Streptanthus

Streptanthus is a genus within the mustard family, Brassicaceae. There are about 35 known species within the Streptanthus genus, distributed mostly throughout western North America. The common names for this genus are Jewelflower and Twistflower...

, and Sisymbrium altissimum

Sisymbrium altissimum

Sisymbrium altissimum is a species of Sisymbrium. The plant is native to the western part of the Mediterranean Basin in Europe and Northern Africa and is widely naturalized throughout most of the world, including all of North America. It was probably introduced into North America by a contaminant...

, Arabis glabra

Arabis glabra

Arabis glabra, or tower mustard, is a tall, slim, grey-green plant with small creamy flowers at the top of the stem. It usually grows on poor chalky or sandy soils, in open situations. It is native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and it is widespread in North America where it is also probably...

, Arabis furcata, and Arabis holboelli.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.

• P. s. elivata (Barnes & Benjamin, 1926)
• P. s. flavitincta (Comstock, 1924)
• P. s. nigravenosa Austin & Emmel, ?2003
• P. s. sisymbrii
• P. s. transversa Holland, 1995

External links

• Spring White, Butterflies and Moths of North-America