Mating pair, Switzerland, May 2006
Male, Switzerland, May 2006
Male, Switzerland, May 2006
Close-up of hindwing, showing dense, even grey scaling
Male taking off, showing outwardly curved mark on hindwing costa
Male, Switzerland, May 2006
Male, Switzerland, May 2006
Female, Switzerland, May 2006
Female August 2004
Female August 2004
Female, May 2003
Female, May 2003
This butterfly is very similar to the more widespread and commoner small white but actually easily distinguishable. In the first place it is noticeably smaller and neater - something that stands out surprisingly in the field. More definitively, the chief diagnostic characteristics are the spot on the apex of the forewing, which extends as far down the outer margin as along the costa, and the mark on the hindwing upperside, visible particularly in the picture of the male taking off, which is curved outwardly. The butterfly is double brooded (the pictures from August above are second brood, the rest first). In the second brood the spot on the upperside of the forewing is more markedly curved outward and sometimes joins the outer margin with dark lines. The southern small white is only found in southern regions and these individuals, filmed in Switzerland, are about as far north as they go.