cabbage butterfly

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A butterfly of the family Papilionidæ and genus Pieris, whose larvæ or caterpillars are injurious to the cabbage and other cruciferous plants.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• (Zoöl.) a white butterfly (Pieris rapæ of both Europe and America, and the allied Pieris oleracea, a native American species) which, in the larval state, devours the leaves of the cabbage and the turnip. See also cabbage worm, below.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun white butterfly whose larvae (cabbageworms) feed on cabbage