Butterfly in December in Virginia!

On the 30th day of December, 2007 in Central Virginia, I saw a cabbage white flying in the yard! The temperature was almost 60 degrees and I was astonished to see a butterfly in winter. Cabbage whites are very widespread throughout the U.S. and Canada. Its Latin name is Pieris rapae and they are very easy to raise. They are supposed to spend the cold winter months in the chrysalis form and emerge early in the spring. It has not been especially warm this past December and very rarely did the temps reach into the 50s. Some people think of them as a pest, as they eat cabbage, broccoli and some other cole crops, but I always like to see them in the spring. They are cheerful and flighty little butterflies.