The small white is distributed all over the world. It is considered a real pest in agriculture, especially in cabbage, mustard, radish and cress.
As the name suggests, adults have whitish upper wings. The forewings have black tips, and the undersides of the wings are yellowish, featuring some dark scales. The wingspan of adults is about 32 to 47 mm.
The small white typically produces two generations each year. The eggs, which hatch after around one week, are laid in April and then again in June. The female deposits them singly on the underside of leaves of the food plants.