''Belenois java'', the caper white or common white, is a small butterfly of the family

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Levi ...

found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

. It is highly migratory and is often confused with the cabbage white (''

Pieris rapae ''Pieris rapae'' is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, on several continents as the small ca ...

'').

Identification

Adult

The upper surface of the male's wings are white with a broad black apical patch, the hindwing has a black terminal border. On both wings the black area encloses white dots. The under surface of the hindwing is almost exclusively black except for white and yellow patches between the veins. The wingspan on the male is 5 cm whereas the female's wingspan is larger at 6 cm. The female can vary dramatically including a pale form which looks strikingly similar to the male. The upper surface of the wings is white and have a much broader black margin. The body of both is olive green to dark brown. File: Belenois java peristhene MHNT dos.jpg, Male - dorsal side File: Belenois java peristhene MHNT ventre.jpg, Male - ventral side File: Belenois java peristhene MHNT dos femelle.jpg, Female - dorsal side File: Belenois java peristhene MHNT ventre femelle.jpg, Female - ventral side

Immature

The first

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

of this species is pale yellow sparsely covered in long hairs. The later instars of this species are dark brownish-green with white and yellow raised spots. The head has a V-shaped white mark and is shiny black. There are two lines of hair on the side of the caterpillar's 3-cm body in its later stages. The pupa is white with black markings and is about 2.5 cm. Eggs are small and orange. File: Belenois java on Caparris lassiantha.jpg, Larva and eggs File:Balanois larva.jpg, Older larva File:Balanois cocoons.jpg, Pupal cases Balanois coupling.jpg, Mating adults

Life cycle

Eggs are laid in groups on the top of the host plant's leaves. The caterpillar feeds on currant bush ('' Apophyllum anomalum''), scrub caper berry (''

Capparis arborea ''Capparis arborea'' is a bush or small tree occurring in eastern Australia. The habitat is rainforest; usually riverine, littoral or the drier rainforests. Distributed from the Hunter River, New South Wales to Cape Melville in tropical Queen ...

''), dog caper (''

Capparis canescens ''Capparis canescens'', also known as wild orange, orangewood, native pomegranate, wild pomegranate or grey capparis, is a species of plant in the caper family. It is native to north-eastern Australia. Description The species grows as a shrub ...

''), nipan (''

Capparis lasiantha ''Capparis lasiantha'' is an endemic Australian plant with a range that extends from the Kimberley region through the Northern Territory and Queensland to northern New South Wales, primarily in drier inland areas although the species extends to t ...

''), Australian native orange ('' Capparis mitchellii''), wild orange (''

Capparis sepiaria ''Capparis sepiaria'', also commonly called hedge caper or wild caper bush, is a shrub that has a pantropical distribution, especially in dry deciduous forests, foothills and scrub jungles. Description ''Capparis sepiaria'' is a prickly, eve ...

''), Australian native caper ('' Capparis spinosa'') and bush orange (''

Capparis umbonata ''Capparis'' is a flowering plant genus, comprising around 250 species in the family Capparaceae which is included in the Brassicaceae in the unrevised APG II system. These plants are shrubs or lianas and are collectively known as caper shrub ...

''). Unlike other caterpillars of its size the ''B. java'' feeds on a fairly minimal amount of food, making it less of an agricultural pest than the others. The caterpillars feed for about three weeks until fully grown and pupate. They emerge around December in much of their range.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1758133 Pierini Butterflies of Australia Butterflies of Java Butterflies described in 1768 Butterflies of Oceania Taxa named by Anders Sparrman