Butterfly: Wingspan: 1¾ - 2¼ inches (4.4 - 5.7 cm) UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Male white with a narrow, scalloped, black forewing border. Female seasonably varable: Summer form “dirty” white or smoky gray/brown with black forewing border and black forewing spot; winter form whitish. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) White with yellow cast on hingwing. Female mirrors upper surface; summer form suffused with gray. Turquise blue antennal clubs.
ID Tip: Turquoise blue antennal clubs
Egg: Yellow. Spindle shaped with 11 longitudinal ridges. Laid singly or in clusters, often on the upper surface of host plant leaf.
Caterpillar: Mottled gray with five orange/yellow longitudinal bands. Covered with black, dot-like tubercles and sparse long hairs. Head yellow orange; speckled with black dots.
Chrysalis: White with black markings and dots. Two recurved black horns on third segment.
Great Southern Whites tend to be wanderers. Individuals often disperse, but the species is known for massive emigrations where thousands leave to colonize new territory. Coastal movement is common, and some years they travel inland, using a variety of weedy mustard plants for reproduction. Jim Egbert, who documented Great Southern Whites in Alabama, observed such a mass movement in June 2016. He reported seeing hundreds flying in south Baldwin County, and at times, was able to see three "whites" together: Cabbage, Checkered, and Great Southern. In the fall, Great Southern Whites often make a backward trek. These butterflies cannot tolerate hard freezes in any life stage, and there is no winter diapause. Freezing temperatures leave settlements only in more tropical climates like south Florida and southern Texas. There Great Southern White pioneers wait for warm weather to reinstate their northern expansion.
Males are always white, but females vary by season. Late season females are also white, but longer day lengths trigger some caterpillars to produce dark form (‘nigra’) females with extensive gray scaling. These are on the wing in summer months, although some white females still occur. Eggs are laid in groups on a variety of plants in the mustard family. Caterpillars are gregarious when young, but separate as they mature. They gain some chemical protection from the mustard oils they ingest, and this persists into adulthood. Great Southern Whites are less palatable to birds than many other butterflies.
Great Southern Whites have documented occurrences throughout Florida and in portions of the eastern coastal states. They make it to Alabama during high dispersal years.
A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.
The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.
The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.
The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.
Sightings in the following counties: Baldwin
High count(s):
View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names
Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 | 1 | 25 | 54 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
Open coastal areas including dunes, salt marshes, roadsides, fields, and gardens
Reports from nearby states list members of the Mustard family (Brassicaceae), especially saltworts (Batis spp.) and pepperworts (Lepidium ssp.). Garden species including Arugala (Eruca vesicaria), mustard greens (Brassica spp.), and nasturtiums (Tropaeolum spp.) are also occassionnaly listed.
No host plant has been confirmed in Alabama.
N/A
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