Small White 3rd Brood colour
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:21 am
Bred in captivity by accident.
I wanted to propagate some new Nasturtiums after the originals had been decimated by Large White caterpillars (and to a lesser extent by Small Whites). I cut off some relatively undamaged shoots and put them in waterfilled bottle -they root readily -and stood them on the window ledge in the warm (circa 23/24°) utility/laundry room. I had noticed one fully grown Small White caterpillar on the leaves but ignored it. It quickly disappeared (to pupate I had assumed). Some two weeks later, this appeared inside the window. It was an incredibly yellow individual.
Summer broods of the common whites are decidedly more yellow than the spring broods . Perhaps in the warmer parts of Europe, the yellow colour is even more intense (Guy?)
Small Whites are very easy to breed so some experiments are planned (maybe too late this season). Fully grown caterpillars can be put in the usual plastic boxes. Some would then put into a very warm environment, for example a warm airing cupboard, others kept in more normal temperatures. It might be possible to determine if there is any correlation between temperature of pupae and colour of the butterflies.
I would suspect similar temperature effects would be testable with Large Whites. But the problem with collecting fully grown Large White caterpillars is that a huge percentage are parasitized; Small Whites suffer far less.
I released my Small White in mild (16°) cloudy but dry weather. It flew away strongly. The Nasturtiums have rooted well.
Jack
I wanted to propagate some new Nasturtiums after the originals had been decimated by Large White caterpillars (and to a lesser extent by Small Whites). I cut off some relatively undamaged shoots and put them in waterfilled bottle -they root readily -and stood them on the window ledge in the warm (circa 23/24°) utility/laundry room. I had noticed one fully grown Small White caterpillar on the leaves but ignored it. It quickly disappeared (to pupate I had assumed). Some two weeks later, this appeared inside the window. It was an incredibly yellow individual.
Summer broods of the common whites are decidedly more yellow than the spring broods . Perhaps in the warmer parts of Europe, the yellow colour is even more intense (Guy?)
Small Whites are very easy to breed so some experiments are planned (maybe too late this season). Fully grown caterpillars can be put in the usual plastic boxes. Some would then put into a very warm environment, for example a warm airing cupboard, others kept in more normal temperatures. It might be possible to determine if there is any correlation between temperature of pupae and colour of the butterflies.
I would suspect similar temperature effects would be testable with Large Whites. But the problem with collecting fully grown Large White caterpillars is that a huge percentage are parasitized; Small Whites suffer far less.
I released my Small White in mild (16°) cloudy but dry weather. It flew away strongly. The Nasturtiums have rooted well.
Jack
Although I probably went by the photographer's ID 
