Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Checkered Whites are sun-loving, nectar-drinking, habitat generalists, yet their populations have declined dramatically over the past 50 years.  Their presence on a field trip checklist in Alabama is always a good get, although once a population is found, they may be numerous.  There is no obvious reason for their scarcity, although Cabbage Whites are often blamed.  These nonnative butterflies swept through North America in the nineteenth century, and they have been viewed as competitors for the same host plants and habitats.  Yet Cabbage Whites typically choose cultivated mustard-family host plants like cabbage and broccoli while Checkered Whites are more likely to use wild and weedy mustards like Poorman's Pepperwort.

Checkered Whites' host plant needs may partially explain their scarcity. Their major hosts are early succession annuals that quickly move in to colonize open, disturbed ground but just as quickly disappear as more permanent vegetation takes hold.  The butterflies must become opportunistic gypsies, constantly on the move, in search of the next patch of weedy plants that will provide food for their caterpillars. Although they often seem to be "here today, gone tomorrow," home-base populations do exist.  Checkered Whites should be sought in large fields and pastures that contain their hosts. In Baldwin County, they sometimes fly in the vicinity of both Great Southern and Cabbage Whites.