Rural School Leaflet 



897 



THE IMPORTED CABBAGE BUTTERFLY 



(The larva has biting mouth-parts) 

 Glenn W: Herrick 



The common green cabbage worm is one of the serious pests of cabbages 



in this country. It is the caterpillar of the white butterfly so often seen 



fluttering about in numbers over a field of 



these vegetables. This butterfly is an Old 



World insect and was probably imported 



among shipments of cabbages sent from 



Europe. It was first noticed in Canada 



in i860 and by 1865 it had reached the 



State of Maine. From thence it has 



spread over the whole United States and 



has become a much more serious pest than 



our own native cabbage butterfly. 



This cabbage pest furnishes a good 



example of one way in which we are in 



constant danger of getting new insect 



enemies. Moreover, it shows how well a 



new pest brought from another country 



may thrive under the new conditions 

 found here. 



Appearance of the insect. — The parent 

 butterfly has two pairs of large, strong, 

 white wings. Each of the front wings has 

 a black patch in the outer corner; those of the mother butterfly bear 

 two black spots in addition, while those of the father insect bear but one 

 black spot. The undersides of the wings are sulfiir or straw color. 

 The body of the butterfly is long and slender, and dark in color. 

 Two long, slender feelers or antennag project from the head. Each 

 antenna ends in a swollen knob. 



On the lower side of the head of the butterfly is a long, slender, thread- 

 like projection coiled up like a tiny watch spring. This is the sucking 

 tube of the mouth. When uncoiled it is half an inch in length. 



The caterpillar is velvety green in color and about one and one fourth 

 inches in length when full grown. There is a faint yellow stripe down 

 the middle of the back and a row of yellow spots along each side of the 

 body. The caterpillar eats out holes in the leaves of the cabbages and 

 where abundant practically devours the leaves. 



The imported cabbage butterfly; 

 male above, female below 



