: any of several largely white butterflies (family Pieridae) whose green larvae are cabbage worms
especially: a small cosmopolitan butterfly (Pieris rapae synonym Artogeia rapae) that is a pest on cabbage
called alsocabbage white
Illustration of cabbage butterfly
1 larva
2 adult
Examples of cabbage butterfly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebViceroy butterflies winter-over in the caterpillar stage, while the white cabbage butterfly lives though winter in the form of a chrysalis.—Jim Gilbert, Star Tribune, 19 Nov. 2020 Spearmint and peppermint are useful in attracting bees and repelling black flea beetles, ants, mosquitoes, white cabbage butterflies, aphids, and cabbage maggots.—OregonLive.com, 29 Mar. 2018 Pieris Project asks citizen scientists to record information about Pieris rapae, or the white cabbage butterfly.—National Geographic, 22 Apr. 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cabbage butterfly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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