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Larvae of Pieris rapae (L.), the imported cabbage worm, were reared to the adult stage under controlled light conditions. Spectral quality affected their development. The effect of the long wave ultraviolet light was to significantly decrease developmental time. The light source used also appeared to exert an effect on pupal colouration.
The retinal morphology of the butterfly, Pieris rapae L., was investigated using light and electron microscopy with special emphasis on the morphology and distribution of its screening pigments. Pigment migration in pigment- and retinula cells was analysed after light-dark adaptation and after different selective chromatic adaptations. The primary pigment cells with white- to yellow-green pigments symmetrically surround the cone process and the distal half of the crystalline cone, whilst the six secondary pigment cells, around each ommatidium, contain dark brown pigment granules. The nine retinula cells in one ommatidium can be categorised into four types. Receptor cells 1-4, which have microvilli in the distal half of the ommatidium only, contain numerous dark brown pigment granules. On the basis of the pigment content and morphology of their pigment granules, two groups of cells, cells 1, 2 and cells 3, 4 can be distinguished. The four diagonally arranged cells (5-8), with rhabdomeric structures and pigments in the proximal half of the cells, contain small red pigment granules of irregular shape. The ninth cell, which has only a small number of microvilli, lacks pigment. Chromatic adaptation experiments in which the location of retinula cell pigment granules was used as a criterium reveal two UV-receptors (cells 1 and 2), two green receptors (cells 3 and 4) and four cells (5-8) containing the red screening pigment, with a yellow-green sensitivity.
The biotransformation of cleomeprenols-1-3H by the larvae of Pieris rapae crucivora Boisduval has been investigated. It was found that cleomeprenols fed to the larvae are transformed into long chain fatty acid esters that are excreted in the feces.
Habitat fragmentation is widely expected to reduce population connectivity and increase genetic differentiation, although the strength of these effects depends on species-specific traits such as dispersal ability. Here, we investigated the population genetic structure of the cosmopolitan butterfly, Pieris rapae L. (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), across western Germany using genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. To analyze the effects of landscape structure on genetic connectivity, we applied a paired study design comprising four landscape pairs, each consisting of a highly intensified, modern agricultural landscape and a more heterogeneous, traditional landscape. Our results revealed no evidence of genetic differentiation. Pairwise FST values were close to zero; we detected no isolation by distance, and clustering analyses supported a single genetic population. No meaningful associations between genetic variation and environmental variables were detected, with landscape effects explaining less than 0.4% of genomic variation. Consequently, we found no evidence for stronger genetic structuring in modern compared to more connected traditional landscapes. Our results suggest that extensive habitat fragmentation does not necessarily translate into reduced genetic connectivity in highly mobile, generalist species. In P. rapae , high dispersal ability and ecological generalism appear to buffer against the genetic consequences of landscape modification, resulting in panmictic population structure even across strongly contrasting agricultural landscapes.