Bug FAQCaper White
Belenois java · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pieridae
Males have a 5 cm wingspan and white upper wings with a broad black tip; females are larger at about 6 cm and look similar. Caterpillars feed on several native caper-family shrubs, and the butterfly migrates seasonally, with adults emerging around December.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Males have white upper wings with a broad black apical patch and a black terminal border on the hindwing. The underside of the hindwing is mostly black, marked with white and yellow patches between the veins.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Male wingspan is about 5 cm; females are larger at roughly 6 cm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
This species is highly migratory.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on a range of native caper plants such as currant bush, scrub caper berry, dog caper, nipan, Australian native orange, wild orange, Australian native caper and bush orange.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Eggs are laid in groups on the tops of host-plant leaves. The caterpillars feed for about three weeks before pupating.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
Same family (Pieridae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belenois_java
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.