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Checkered White

Pontia protodice[3]

The checkered white is a white butterfly with black checkered markings; its caterpillar, the southern cabbageworm, feeds on mustard-family plants and occasionally on cabbage and other crops.[1][2]

Group
Insect
Order
Lepidoptera
Family
Pieridae
US records
34 states
Sources
3 cited
Updated
2026-10-15
Checkered white butterfly with black checkered markings on white wings
Checkered white butterfly with black checkered markings on white wings. (c) Dennis Vollmar, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0
On this page
  1. Identification
  2. Look-alikes
  3. Where it lives
  4. Biology
  5. Damage and signs
  6. Health risk
  7. Control
  8. Common questions
  9. Sources

How to identify it

  • Females have extensive black and white checkering; males are whiter with sparse markings and a dark square near the forewing's leading edge.[2]
  • Full-grown caterpillars are about 1.1 inches, gray to grayish green with yellow stripes, rows of small black spots and short hairs.[1][2]

Look-alikes

Look-alikeHow to tell them apart
Imported cabbageworm (cabbage white)On cabbage, checkered white caterpillars tend to eat just the outer leaves, while the related cabbage white's larvae bore into the head.[2]

Where it lives

Resident in most of the southern United States and colonizing northern states; once abundant on the East Coast but now local or rare from New England to the Carolinas.[1]

US map: public records from 34 states since 1990 (GBIF).

Biology and life cycle

Adults fly March to November in Missouri, usually with two or three broods; numbers vary a lot from year to year.[2]

Damage and signs

  • Caterpillars eat flowers, fruits and leaves of mustard-family plants, preferring wild mustards such as field cress and shepherd's purse over garden crops.[1][2]

Health risk

None to people or pets.[1][2]

Control

Prevention

It rarely matters in gardens; it prefers wild mustards and, on cabbage, feeds mainly on outer leaves.[2]

Common questions

What is the white butterfly with black checks?
A checkered white.[1][2]
Is the southern cabbageworm a garden pest?
Occasionally on cabbage-family crops, but it prefers wild mustards.[1][2]
How is it different from the imported cabbageworm?
It eats outer cabbage leaves, while the imported cabbageworm bores into the head.[2]

Sources

  1. University of Florida IFAS Extension (EDIS, Featured Creatures), “Southern Cabbageworm (larva), Checkered White (adult), Pontia protodice (EENY-436/IN793).” ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN793 (accessed 2026-10-15)
  2. Missouri Department of Conservation, “Checkered White (Field Guide).” mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/checkered-white (accessed 2026-10-15)
  3. iNaturalist, “Pontia protodice taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/59119 (accessed 2026-10-06)

Updated 2026-10-15. Built from sourced records. Spot an error? Tell us.