52 



HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 



Fig. 40. 



The EiirGpean Cabbage Butterfiy. — It is interesting to 

 compare tlic habits of the imported butterfly witli tliose of 

 our native species. TVe have two kinds of "vvhitc Cabbage 

 butterflies which have never done much harm to our cabbage 

 and turnip crops. The first of tliesc is the common white 

 Northern Cabbage Butterfly, Pieris oleracea of Harris (Fig. 

 40, a, larva). We have found the larvae of this species ou 

 turnip leaves in the middle of August, at Chamberlain farm 

 in northern Maine. Thc}^ are of a dull green, and covered 

 with dense hairs. When about to transform they suspend 

 themselves by the tail and a transverse loop, and their 



chrysalides are angular at 

 the sides and pointed at 

 both ends (Harris). The 

 butterfly is white, with 

 the wings dusky next the 

 body, the tips of the fore 

 wings are yellowish be- 

 neath, and the hind wings 

 are straw-colored beneath. 

 The yellowish, pear- 

 shaped, longitudinally 



Native Cabbage Euttcifli". ., , i „ „„ „„„ i„;^i +i^,.^^ 



° •' ribbed eggs are laid three 



or four on a single leaf. In a week or ten days the larvae 

 are hatched. They live three weeks before becoming full- 

 fed. The chrysalis state lasts from ten to twelve days. 

 There is an early summer (May) brood and a late summer 

 (July) brood of butterflies. 



While this kind feeds on the leaves of the cabbage and 

 turnip, the Southern Cabbage Butterfly {Pieris Protodice), 

 when in the caterpillar state, feeds on the outer leaves of 

 the cabbage plant. It is often destructive in market gardens 

 in the middle and southern states. But the injury done by 

 our aboriginal butterflies is slight indeed compared with 

 that resulting from the European species, which is usually 



20 



