West Virginia White
Pieris virginiensis

West Virginia White, an uncommon inhabitant of the Mountains and Ridge and Valley south to Paulding and Cobb Counties, was first found in Georgia by John Symmes in Murray County in 1961 (Harris 1972). The habitat is moist deciduous woods, particularly north facing coves in the Mountains. It does not thrive on disturbed sites and is hurt by timbering. The invasion of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) poses a serious threat. West Virginia Whites mistake it for toothwort (Cardamine), a major hostplant, but the leaves are poisonous to the caterpillars. The hostplants are cutleaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenata)(Lavender Mt. Floyd Co), broadleaf toothwort (Cardamine diphylla), hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)(Pine Log, Bartow County), bulbous bittercress (Cardamine bulbosa) and slender toothwort, (Cardamine angustata), all of which have been documented in the Ridge and Valley, specifically, Walker, Floyd and Bartow Counties (USDA Plant Database). There is one brood occurring in March and April in the Ridge and Valley and in April and May in the Mountains. Early Date: 26 March (Murray County); Late Date: 22 May (Towns County). Conservation Status: Secure in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Paulding Forest, Crockford WMA, Pine Log WMA and Dawson Forest and other GA-DNR lands where land disturbance is minimal but imperiled at the southern edge of its range at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (Cobb County) where garlic mustard has invaded the upper reaches of the mountain. Efforts are ongoing to eliminate the threat.