WOOD WHITE , Leptidea sinapis

The Wood White butterfly is a regular visitor to the Meadow Hide here in North Wiltshire. The wood white is the smallest of our white butterflies, with a distinctive slow and fluttering flight. These dainty insects are found in sheltered areas of woodland rides and glades. The upper wings are white with rounded edges. Males have a black mark on the edge of the forewing. The undersides are white, with indistinct grey markings , the males have a large black spot , whilst females only have a faint spot. 

The wood white is the smallest butterfly in the ‘White’ family of
butterflies.

Wood whites are particularly active on still, sunny days. They visit a variety of flowers to feed on nectar, including knapweeds, bird’s-foot-trefoils, and bugle. They always rest with their wings closed.

The Wood White breeds in tall grassland or light scrub, in partially shaded or edge habitats. In Britain, most colonies breed in woodland rides and clearings, though a few large colonies occur on coastal undercliffs. A few smaller colonies occur on disused railway lines and around rough, overgrown field edges 

Males fly almost continuously throughout the day in fine weather, patrolling to find a mate. Females spend much of their time feeding on flowers and resting. 

In the characteristic courtship display, the male lands opposite the female and waves his head and antennae backwards and forwards with his proboscis extended. Females lay their eggs singly on the leaves of the foodplant. The caterpillars eat a range of plants including bitter-vetch, common bird’s-foot-trefoil, meadow vetchling and tufted vetch.

Eggs hatch after 10–20 days, after which the larvae remain on the food plant and feed on its leaves. The development of the larvae is temperature-dependent, with a range of 35–60 days spent developing. There are, on average, four larval instars, which all tend to stay on the food-plant during development, eating the leaves of the plant onto which they hatched. The larvae are green and well camouflaged on their food plant. When the larvae are ready to pupate, they wander for a variable amount of time until they find a location to pupate. The resulting pale green or brown pupae are generally found on grass stems and on rose plants. The species is bivoltine, meaning that two generations hatch per year, during the months of late May through August.

Despite relatively short-term increases, the long-term view is that this butterfly is in decline and is therefore a priority species for conservation efforts. This butterfly has suffered due to a change in woodland management and, in particular, the reduction in coppicing that allows new woodland clearings to develop that provides the conditions suitable for this species.

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