Bug FAQDesert Marble
Euchloe lotta · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
The desert marble butterfly has a wingspan of about 38 to 40 mm and is mostly white with black tips on the forewings and green-grey veined hindwings. It lives in dry habitats such as sagelands, deserts, rocky canyons and juniper woodlands, and flies in April and May. Its range includes the interior of British Columbia, Canada, and its caterpillars feed on several Arabis species and Halimolobos whitedi.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are mostly white with black markings on the forewing tips and body, while the underside shows greenish-grey veins, especially on the hindwing.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The wingspan measures between 38 and 40 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It inhabits sagelands, deserts, dry rocky areas, dry ravines, canyon walls and juniper woodland.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are on the wing from April through May in North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 14 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arizona, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Utah, Nevada.
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
What does the desert marble look like?
It is mostly white with black tips on the forewings and green-grey veined hindwings.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does the desert marble live?
It lives in dry desert and rocky habitats such as sagelands, canyon walls and juniper woodlands.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the caterpillars eat?
They feed on several Arabis species and on Halimolobos whitedi.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euchloe_lotta
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.