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Cabbage White is also known as Cabbage Butterfly. The wingspan of this butterfly is 4.5 - 5.8 cm. Its wings are pale yellow with black tips and with one spot on the male’s (two spots on the female’s) front wing. The caterpillar can reach lengths of almost 3.8 cm and is uniformly green, marked with five lengthwise yellow lines and covered in a smooth hair.
This butterfly is found from early spring until September, but most commonly seen during the late July season when most growers are starting their fall crops of broccoli, cabbage, and turnips. The caterpillar of these butterflies can devastate whole crops in a matter of days if left unchecked. You can see them in almost any type of open space in the Algonquin Highlands, including bogs, meadows, woods, and backyard gardens.
Adult Cabbage Butterflies feed on flower nectar from a very wide array of plants including Mustards, Dandelion, Red Clover, Asters, and Mints.
The female lays yellowish eggs that are vase-shaped. The caterpillar, 1.9 cm, is bright green with yellowish back stripes and side stripes and covered with short pile. The chrysalis is also 1.9 cm, is speckled, green or tan, and overwinters on host plants of the Mustard family.
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CABBAGE WHITE
Pieris rapae
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