Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cabbage White Caterpillar

Cabbage White caterpillars are so well camouflaged! I love the way that they lay themselves right down along a vein, as if pretending to be a part of the leaf. When I want to find live specimens, I have discovered that it is easier to find eggs than caterpillars. Even thought the eggs are much smaller, they are white and stand out against the green leaves.

Cabbage White caterpillars eat nasturtiums, as pictured here, but they also eat cabbages and other plants in the cabbage family like kale and cauliflower. They can be quite a pest in the veggie garden. But I love them because they are easy to find and have a long season. Cabbage Whites are some of the first butterflies I see in the spring.

No comments:

Post a Comment