Description
The white butterfly, (Pieris rapae) is native to European and Asian countries. It has spread throughout much of the world aided by worldwide transportation and the common use of their food crops.
Its introduction to New Zealand is thought to have occurred in 1929. Most likely, it was transported in imported cool-store vegetables. White butterfly pupae are able to enter diapause – a period during which their growth is suspended in response to adverse environmental conditions. Pupae in diapause could have survived for many months on vegetables transported in refrigerated ships.
White butterflies, whose caterpillars are notorious for their voracious feeding on cabbages in New Zealand is a pest, hated by garners across the country.
I, of course, as a nature-lover was drawn to the modest but elegant simplicity of their wings, with their delicate grey veins and prominent black spot on each upper wing.
“Within 2 years after the first recorded sighting of a white butterfly in Napier, it had spread up to 200km, moving to wherever brassica crops were planted. White butterflies crossed mountain ranges and dense forests on the wing and were helped to the South Island via vegetable shipments. By 1935, the white butterfly was well established throughout the country. The lack of natural enemies allowed the species’ numbers to explode. Parasitic wasps were introduced to eat the larvae and, along with predation by birds, ladybird beetles and the occasional spider, these now keep the numbers under control.”
– sciencelearn.org.nz/
About the artwork:
This image was digitally painted with a Wacom Intuos pressure sensitive graphics tablet using Corel Painter.
The white butterfly, (Pieris rapae) is native to European and Asian countries. It has spread throughout much of the world aided by worldwide transportation and the common use of their food crops.
Its introduction to New Zealand is thought to have occurred in 1929. Most likely, it was transported in imported cool-store vegetables. White butterfly pupae are able to enter diapause – a period during which their growth is suspended in response to adverse environmental conditions. Pupae in diapause could have survived for many months on vegetables transported in refrigerated ships.
White butterflies, whose caterpillars are notorious for their voracious feeding on cabbages in New Zealand is a pest, hated by garners across the country.
I, of course, as a nature-lover was drawn to the modest but elegant simplicity of their wings, with their delicate grey veins and prominent black spot on each upper wing.
“Within 2 years after the first recorded sighting of a white butterfly in Napier, it had spread up to 200km, moving to wherever brassica crops were planted. White butterflies crossed mountain ranges and dense forests on the wing and were helped to the South Island via vegetable shipments. By 1935, the white butterfly was well established throughout the country. The lack of natural enemies allowed the species’ numbers to explode. Parasitic wasps were introduced to eat the larvae and, along with predation by birds, ladybird beetles and the occasional spider, these now keep the numbers under control.”
– sciencelearn.org.nz/
About the artwork:
This image was digitally painted with a Wacom Intuos pressure sensitive graphics tablet using Corel Painter.
Make a statement in any room with this framed poster, printed on thick, durable, matte paper. The matte black frame that’s made from wood from renewable forests adds an extra touch of class.
• Ayous wood .75″ (1.9 cm) thick frame from renewable forests
• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil (0.26 mm)
• Paper weight: 5.57 oz/y² (189 g/m²)
• Lightweight
• Acrylite front protector
• Hanging hardware included
• Blank product components in the US sourced from Japan and the US
• Blank product components in the EU sourced from Japan and Latvia
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