Cabbage moth
Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedbutterflies and moths
The cabbage moth (Pieris brassicae) is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup, belonging to the family Pieridae in the order Lepidoptera. Its other English names are Large white, Cabbage white, Large white moth, Cabbage butterfly and Large cabbage white.
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Quick facts about the cabbage moth
The species was named by (Linnaeus, 1758) and is placed in the genus Pieris, superfamily Papilionoidea, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda and kingdom Animalia. The Catalogue of Life lists the cabbage moth as a living, not extinct, species.
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 4.9 cm – 6.24 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Nectarivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- flowerssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- grassland, human_modified, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- On the wing
- All yearsrc for On the wing
- Generations a year
- Severalsrc for Generations a year
- Larval food plants
- Brassicaceae familysrc for Larval food plants
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the cabbage moth?
Photos of the cabbage moth
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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_Pieris_brassicae_-_Ste.Foy_d%27Aigrefeuille_Haute_Garonne_France_-_male.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the cabbage moth live?
Not recorded
What is the cabbage moth?
Pieris brassicae, the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, Pieris rapae.
The large white is common throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia.
From the Wikipedia article “Pieris brassicae” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pieris_brassicae&oldid=1382855940), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the cabbage moth endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the cabbage moth classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyPieridae
- genusPieris
- SpeciesPieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Papilio brassicae, Pieris brassicae brassicae, Pieris brassicae ottonis, Pieris brassicae var. brassicoides, Pieris chariclea, Pontia chariclea
Other names and names in other languages (73)
- Cabbage butterflyEnglish
- Cabbage butterflyEnglish
- Cabbage whiteEnglish
- European cabbage whiteEnglish
- Giant cabbage white butterflyEnglish
- Great white butterflyEnglish
- Large cabbage whiteEnglish
- Large cabbage whiteEnglish
- Large cabbage white butterflyEnglish
- Large whiteEnglish
- Large whiteEnglish
- Large white butterflyEnglish
- Large white mothEnglish
- Europese koolwitjieAfrikaans
- Cuco d'as colsAragonese
- Бялянка капуснаяBelarusian
- Зелева пеперудаBulgarian
- Gwennig brasBreton
- Blanqueta de la colCatalan
- bělásek zelnýCzech
- Gwyn MawrWelsh
- Gwynion MawrWelsh
- Stor kålfuglDanish
- Almindelig kålsommerfuglDanish
- Stor kålsommerfuglDanish
- Stor kålsværmerDanish
- Großer KohlweißlingGerman
- Großer Kohl-WeißlingGerman
- Πιερίδα του λάχανουGreek
- Blanca de la ColSpanish
- Suur-kapsaliblikasEstonian
- KaaliperhonenFinnish
- HvítfiðrildiFaroese
- Piéride du ChouFrench
- Grat kualflenerkNorthern Frisian
- Grutte Wite KoalflinterWestern Frisian
- Bánóg mhórIrish
- leòmann a' chàilScottish Gaelic
- dealain-dè mhòra ghealaScottish Gaelic
- dealan-dè mòr gealScottish Gaelic
- leòmainn a' chàilScottish Gaelic
- לבנין הכרובHebrew
- Kupusov bijelacCroatian
- DźěłošćikUpper Sorbian
- KáposztalepkeHungarian
- kálskjanniIcelandic
- Cavolaia maggioreItalian
- オオモンシロチョウJapanese
- KabespäipelLuxembourgish
- KabesfrësserLuxembourgish
- Kopūstinis BaltukasLithuanian
- Kāpostu baltenisLatvian
- Groot koolwitjeDutch
- stor kålsommarfuglNorwegian Nynorsk
- Bielinek kapustnikPolish
- Borboleta‑da‑couvePortuguese
- Fluturele alb al verzeiRomanian
- КапустницаRussian
- Белянка капустнаяRussian
- gállabeaiveloddiNorthern Sami
- Mlynárik kapustovýSlovak
- kapusov belinSlovenian
- Велики купусарSerbian
- KålfjärilSwedish
- BjełůnekSilesian
- ผีเสื้อหนอนกะหล่ำใหญ่Thai
- Lahana kelebeğiTurkish
- Büyük Beyaz MelekTurkish
- Білан капустянийUkrainian
- Капустяна білянкаUkrainian
- 欧洲粉蝶Chinese
- 歐洲粉蝶Chinese
- 大菜粉蝶or歐洲粉蝶Chinese
Relatives of the cabbage moth
Other species in the same genus Pieris.
Pepe ma
Pieris rapae
Green-veined white
Pieris napi
Southern small white
Pieris mannii
Canary large white
Pieris cheiranthi
Mountain small white
Pieris ergane
Dark-veined white
Pieris bryoniae
CompareCabbage moth vs Pepe maCabbage moth vs Green-veined whiteCabbage moth vs Southern small whiteCabbage moth vs Canary large white
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What is the scientific name of the cabbage moth?
The scientific name of the cabbage moth is Pieris brassicae, in the genus Pieris.
What kind of animal is the cabbage moth?
The cabbage moth is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera and the family Pieridae.
Who named Pieris brassicae?
Pieris brassicae was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).
What other names does the cabbage moth have?
The cabbage moth is also called Large white, Cabbage white, Large white moth, Cabbage butterfly and Large cabbage white.
Is the cabbage moth extinct?
No. The Catalogue of Life lists the cabbage moth as living, not extinct.
What family does the cabbage moth belong to?
The cabbage moth belongs to the family Pieridae, within the superfamily Papilionoidea.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cabbage moth (Pieris brassicae). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pieris-brassicae
“Cabbage moth (Pieris brassicae).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pieris-brassicae.
@misc{pieris_brassicae_2026,
title = {Cabbage moth (Pieris brassicae)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pieris-brassicae},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}