Spotlight on Cheshire butterflies: The Large White (Pieris brassicae)

The Large White is one of the most widespread and successful butterflies in Britain. Its status and distribution in Cheshire has undergone few changes since records began in the nineteenth century. Ellis (1890) commented on it by one of its earlier names of Large Cabbage White and stated that it was “abundant throughout Cheshire”. In a later publication Smith (1948) remarked that it was “usually common throughout the district, but a few collectors reported it as scarce during 1946”.

Recent survey work has revealed few subsequent changes in its status with reports of this butterfly received from 99% of all tetrads in the county during the 1990s. It is, however, seen in much smaller numbers in the Pennine foothills in the east of Cheshire compared with lowland areas. Many of the sightings in the uplands will relate to wanderers searching for suitable breeding habitat, or migrants moving through these inhospitable parts of the county.

Plotting short-term trends in the abundance of the Large White is often difficult as many contributors only record brief details of this very common insect. Even so, it is apparent that numbers fluctuate from one year to another, partially due to weather conditions, but also as a result of the level of migration which reinforces the resident population. During the last few years the number of contributors to the Cheshire Recording Scheme has remained fairly constant and the following figures reveal how the number of tetrads where double-figure counts have been seen has reduced since the favourable weather conditions of the mid-1990s.

Despite being a strong flyer the Large White generally stays in the vicinity of gardens, allotments and fields, or wherever Brassica crops are grown. At these sites the female lays eggs in batches of 50 or more on its favoured plants, which are invariable reduced to a skeleton by the caterpillars. Not surprisingly it is for this reason that gardeners do not always welcome the Large White into their gardens.

The Large White is normally double-brooded in Cheshire with the first generation peaking in late May and the larger second brood in mid-August. During periods of favourable weather conditions there is sometimes evidence of a small third generation in the autumn.

References:

Ellis, J.W. (1890). The Lepidopterous Fauna of Lancashire and Cheshire.

Shaw, B.T. (1999). The Butterflies of Cheshire.

Smith, S.G. (1948). The Butterflies and Moths found in the counties, Cheshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Caernarvonshire, Anglesey and Merionethshire.

Written by Barry Shaw for News, the Cheshire and Peak Distrcit Branch of Butterfly Conservation magazine.