Bug FAQPsyche
Leptosia nina · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Also called: Black-spotted White
The Psyche butterfly has a wingspan of about 25 to 53 mm and is mostly white with distinct black markings on the forewings and a thin black line on the hindwing edge. It lives in the lower Himalayas, much of India, Sri Lanka, Burma, China and the Malay region, preferring non-desert areas. Caterpillars are green with a glaucous tint, feed on caper plants, Cardamine and Cleome species, and the pupae are delicate pink or sometimes green.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Upper side of the wings is white; the forewing has speckled black along the costa, a black apex with an inward angle, and a large pear-shaped black spot beyond the discal area. The hindwing is uniformly white with an often-present very thin black line along the outer edge.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 25 to 53 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found from Mussoorie to Sikkim in the Himalayas, across central, western and southern India, Sri Lanka, Assam, Burma, Tenasserim, extending to China and the Malay region, but not in desert areas.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae are green with a pale glaucous tint near the legs, slightly hairy, and feed on caper plants such as Capparis zeylanica. They also eat leaves of Cardamine and Cleome species.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Both larva and pupa resemble those of Terias hecabe but are more delicate. Pupae may be green or more commonly a delicate pink shade.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The larva and pupa look very similar to those of the butterfly Terias hecabe, though they are more delicately formed.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptosia_nina
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.