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This is the only species of white which has both unmarked hindwing undersides and at least one black spot on the forewing upperside and the leading edge of the hindwing upperside. Royal Alberta Museum page

Like other Pieris species, the eggs are yellow and conical, with longitudinal ridges. Mature larvae are green with a pale dorsal stripe, and pupae range in colour from brown to green (Guppy & Shepard 2001). The first Cabbage Whites usually emerge in late April from hibernating pupae. There are usually three generations per year in Alberta (Bird et al. 1995). Up to four occur in southern BC, with development time of each generation varying from 4 to 8 weeks according to temperature (Guppy & Shepard 2001).

Larvae sometimes reach pest status on cultivated mustards such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and canola. A large number of Brassicaceae have been recorded as hosts, particularly introduced, weedy species (Guppy & Shepard 2001).

The Cabbage White was introduced from Europe to Quebec in the 1860's (Layberrry et al. 1998), and has since spread over all of North America with the exception of the Arctic and some of the extreme southern parts of the U.S. (Opler 1999).