Beast or Beauty?

The Large White Butterfly, Pieris brassicae, also known as the Cabbage White, is a common visitor to my garden and with very good reason. This butterfly is a very beautiful creature but is best known as a pest of vegetable crops, particularly cabbages, but it also feeds on other Brassicas such as Broccoli and Brussels. It may also incur the wrath of some gardeners with its taste for Nasturtium leaves.

It is actually the caterpillar that causes the problems as the butterfly is merely the egg-layer and does not damage the crops itself. The adult butterfly feeds on nectar, which it collects from lots of wildflowers including common garden weeds such as Dandelion, Thistle and Bluebell.

This particular butterfly begins laying eggs in spring. The larvae will quickly hatch and gorge themselves on the foodplant they have hatched on. They are quite a mobile species and will move to neighbouring plants. They begin by sticking together when they first hatch but soon move away from eachother to find fresh leaves to feed on.

This caterpillar doesn't have things entirely its own way. There is a parasitic fly that injects its eggs into this species of caterpillar. The eggs hatch into larvae which feed on the caterpillar. When sufficiently full the larvae burst out through the skin of the caterpillar. They will then spin a silken coccoon in which they change into wasps then hatch and fly away to start the cycle over again. This gruseome sight is very common but does not aid the gardener as the caterpillars continue to feed on the crops while the parasite develops inside them. Once the parasites beak out the caterpillar stops feeding and twitches defensively when you go near it. It is basically tricked by the parasites into guarding them until they are safely in their coccoons. The caterpillar then starves and dies.

A second brood of caterpillars hatch later in the summer and will overwinter in the form a a pupa to hatch in spring and begin the cycle again. THere is another species of butterfly called the small white. This is, as you might expect, smaller than the large white and the caterpillar is a velvety green colour, whereas the Large White caterpillar is a mottled mixture of greens and yellows.

I grow Broccoli and Brussels in my vegetable patch and I also typically grow some nasturtiums in a wild section of my garden. I see a lot of both Large and Small White butterflies in my garden and many of their caterpillars on my crops.

I can't bring myself to but bug spray and kill them all off. Instead I make a trade off with them. I bring the caterpillars indoors and keep them in containers. They munch on my old Broccoli leaves that will wither and die if left on the plants. This way my crops are safe, as long as I check for caterpillars every day, and they get to live and become butterflies.

This system works very well and I get the pleasure of releasing the adult butterflies back into the garden where they belong when they emerge from their chrysalis.

On one occasion I was fortunate enough to have my camera handy when one landed on a Cape Daisy flower in my garden. I don't know if it was taking nectar from the flower or just having a quick rest.

I managed to get a lovely photo of this butterfly, which I was later able to identify as a female based on the spots on its wings. I made this image into lots of different products in my zazzle store Natural Beauty. I'm hoping my dedication to this much hated pest might bring me a reward in the shape of an odd sale here and there. If not no matter I will carry on caring for the last few caterpillars of this year and start anew next year with another generation of hungry mouths to feed.

Here are some products featuring a photo of the butterfly I raised and released that sat on the Cape daisy flower for just enough time to allow me to get the shot.

Butterfly and Pink Flower Tie by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Mousepad by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Mug by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Print by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Custom Photo Album by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Tote Bag by Fallen_Angel_483
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Butterfly and Pink Flower Ladies T Shirt by Fallen_Angel_483
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