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The Small White is, as one would expect, smaller than the Large, and is also less heavily marked - the wing-tip marking is reduced, and is grey rather than black. The wing-spots are much more pronounced on the female (on the right) than on the male (on the left)
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The underside of the hindwing is a delicate pale yellow: an absence of dark markings distinguishes the Small White from the Green-Veined White
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Mating pair (the same one but on two different plants). Female to the right in the left-hand image, male uppermost in the right-hand one (distinguished by the darkness of the wing-tips and the presence or absence of spots)
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After mating, the small, yellow, ridged eggs are laid singly on the leaves of the brassica family (Cruciferae) - here Kohl Rabi (Brassica Oleracea)
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They hatch into equally small, yellow, ridged caterpillars, which proceed to eat the egg case before starting on the leaves of the host plant
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The caterpillars grow rapidly but, unlike Large Whites, they do not take mustard oil into their bodies. They instead turn green in order to avoid predation by being better camouflaged against the leaves upon which they feed - which doesn't work so well on the underside, which tends to be more grey than green!
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