Pieriballia is a genus of butterflies

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the Pieridae

Pieridae

The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing approximately 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and Asia. Most pierid butterflies are white, yellow or orange in coloration, often with black spots...

 family. It consists of only one species, Pieriballia viardi, the Painted White or Viardi White. It is found from Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

 and Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

. Strays can be found in southern Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The habitat consists of rainforests and transitional cloudforests.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is about 57 mm (2.2 in).

The larvae feed on Capparis pseudocacao.

Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognised:

• Pieriballia viardi viardi (Mexico, Honduras)
• Pieriballia viardi locusta (C. & R. Felder, 1861) (Colombia)
• Pieriballia viardi mandela (C. & R. Felder, 1861) (Venezuela)
• Pieriballia viardi noctipennis (Butler & Druce, 1872) (Costa Rica, Panama)
• Pieriballia viardi apicalis (Butler, 1898) (Ecuador)
• Pieriballia viardi tithoreides (Butler, 1898) (Ecuador)
• Pieriballia viardi rubecula (Fruhstorfer, 1907) (Peru, Bolivia)
• Pieriballia viardi molione (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (Paraguay, Argentina)
• Pieriballia viardi decorata (Joicey & Talbot, 1928) (Peru)
• Pieriballia viardi interposita (Joicey & Talbot, 1928) (Peru)