Bug FAQCheckered White
Pontia protodice · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Also called: Southern Cabbage Butterfly
Source: Wikipedia
The Checkered White butterfly has a wingspan of about 3 to 4 cm and white upper wings with black and gray markings, especially on females. It lives in open, dry, disturbed places like deserts, vacant lots, and city areas across the southern U.S. and parts of Mexico, sometimes reaching northern U.S. and Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Upper wings are white with black and gray spots; females show more markings than males. Underside of the hindwings shows many yellow-brown veins.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in open habitats such as deserts, plains, and other disturbed dry areas. Also lives in vacant lots, railroads, airports, dry grasslands, and cities.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults feed on nectar from mustard, composite flowers, and alfalfa. Larvae use many Brassica crops and other weeds such as mustard, radish, and peppergrass as host plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Eggs are orange; mature caterpillars are bluish-green to gray with black dots and a yellow stripe. Pupae overwinter and can be blue-gray or cream colored.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are most common in late summer and autumn.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Common in the southern United States and northern Mexico. Occasionally appears in northern U.S. states and southern Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 47 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, Utah, Oklahoma.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
Do Checkered Whites damage crops?
Yes, their larvae feed on many garden and field crops such as cabbage, broccoli, mustard, and radish.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontia_protodice
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.