Pieris (butterfly)

Pieris
Pieris pseudorapae, Espiye
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pieridae
Tribe:	Pierini
Genus:	Pieris Schrank, 1801
Species
Almost 40, see text
Synonyms
Mancipium Hübner, [1806] Danaus Oken, 1815 Ganoris Dalman, 1816 Andropodum Hübner, 1822 Tachyptera Berge, 1842 Artogeia Verity, 1947 Talbotia Bernardi, 1958

Pieris, the whites or garden whites, is a widespread, now almost cosmopolitan, genus of butterflies of the family Pieridae. The highest species diversity is in the Palearctic, with a higher diversity in Europe and eastern North America than the similar and closely related Pontia. The females of many Pieris butterflies are UV reflecting, while the male wings are strongly UV absorbing due to pigments in the scales.^{[citation needed]}