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Rlkal Scikkjl Leaflet 



Parts of cabbage leaf with eggs at A, caterpillars at B, and 



chrysalis at C 



Story of- its life. — The butterflies appear early in the spring and the 

 mother insect begins to fly about among the cabbages. She flits here 

 and there, resting for a moment now and then on a cabbage leaf. If 

 we examine the place carefully where she has rested, we shall find a long, 



small, pale yellow egg 

 stuck to the leaf. In 

 about one week the 

 egg hatches and the 

 tiny green " worm " 

 appears. The cater- 

 pillars cat ravenously 

 and grow very fast. 

 They riddle the outer 

 leaves of the plant 

 and many of them 

 crawl down among the 

 tender leaves of the 

 head itself. Here they 

 feed and cause much 

 injury by soiling the tender white leaves. In about two weeks they 

 become full-grown and then change to pupee. The pupa forms 

 a chrysalis, which may vary in color depending somewhat on the 

 color of the object to which it is attached. The chrysalid is attached 

 by a small band of silk around the middle and by a small mass of silk at 

 the pointed or posterior end. The chrysalids may be found attached to 

 the undersides of cabbage leaves, boards, or palings of a fence near by, 

 or to other convenient objects. During the summer the chrysalid stage 

 lasts one to two weeks. At the end of this time the chrysalid breaks 

 open on the back near the larger end and the butterfly gradually works 

 its way out. After the butterfly has drawn out all of its legs and is entirely 

 free from the shell of the chrysalis, it rests quietly while its wings gradually 

 expand and dry and then it flies away. 



The whole life cycle, from the laying of the egg to the appearance of 

 the butterfly, is passed in twenty-two days to five weeks. In New York 

 the cabbage butterfly finds time during the summer season for at least 

 three broods. Farther south, where the summers are longer, there must 

 be four or five generations each season. 



The winter is passed in the chrysalid stage. The last chrysalids formed 

 in the fall, instead of bursting open and giving forth a butterfly, remain 

 unchanged until warm weather of .the following spring. 



Natural enemies. — The green caterpillars are subject to the attacks 

 of certain tiny, wasp-like, parasitic insects that kill many of them and aid 



