'Pieris rapae' definitions:
Definition of 'Pieris rapae'
(from WordNet)
noun
Toxic green larva of a cabbage butterfly [syn: cabbageworm, Pieris rapae]
noun
Small widely distributed form [syn: small white, Pieris rapae]
Definition of 'Pieris rapae'
From: GCIDE
- cabbage butterfly \cab"bage butterfly\ (Zool.), a white butterfly (Pieris rap[ae] 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. [1913 Webster] cabbage worm
Definition of 'Pieris rapae'
From: GCIDE
- cabbage worm \cab"bage worm`\, cabbageworm \cab"bage*worm`\n. (Zool.), the larva of several species of moths and butterflies, which attacks cabbages. The most common is the toxic green larva of a white butterfly, the cabbage butterfly, ({Pieris rap[ae]}). The cabbage cutworms, which eat off the stalks of young plants during the night, are the larv[ae] of several species of moths, of the genus Agrotis. See Cutworm. larva of a cabbage butterfly. [WordNet 1.5]