31 



This insect in the larva state is attacked by the same species ofgionnd beetles as are 

 !■ escribed in the article on canker worms ; they a'e also subject to the attacks of several 

 s.pecies of parasites, which thin the ranks of the enemy most thoroughly. As far as man's 

 agency is concerned, they are most cflectually fought in the egg state ; by looking care- 

 fully over one's trees during the winter season, the egg masses are readily detected, when 

 they should be removed and destroyed. A second examination of the trees should l)e 

 made in spring, when the young foliage begins to push forth ; then any clusters which 

 have escaped observation will be found to have hatched, when the young larva; in 

 their small web should be carefully collected and destroyed. 



The English Cabbage Butterfly (fieris Jiapce). 



This destructive pest is rapidly spreading westward. During the past season it has 

 appeared foi' the first time in London and the neighbourhood, and will probably reach the 

 western limits of the Provinae before the end of the summer of 1876. A description of 

 this insect was given in l^uI• Society's Re])ort for the year 1871; but since that Report is not 

 now within reach of many of our member.?, for their benefit we will again give a brief 

 summary of the history of this insect, describing its appearance in the various stages of 

 its existence. 



It was brought to Quebec from Europe most probably in the egg slate on cabbage 

 leaves, about the year 1857 or 1858, its advent being chronicled by an entomologist in 

 Quebec, in 1859, wlien the first specimens were captured. In 1863 the insect had become 

 Very abundant about Quebec, and was supposed at that time to have extended some 40 or 

 50 miles east and west of the city, but probably it had sjiread further, for in the summer 

 of 1866 we found it very common about Chicoutirai, at the head of navigation on the 

 Saguenay River, and during that same jear the butterfly was taken in Vermont and Isew 

 Hampshire, and by the end of 1870 had overspread a large jiortion of the middle States. 

 Every year since its introduction the area occupied by it has been extended in every di- 

 rection, until now it has spread as far east as Halifax, N. S. ; farther south than Baltimore, 

 Md. ; and west as far as the western portion of Ohio. In Canada, during the same period, 

 it has been gradually spreading westward. Last year it was common jibout Hamilton, 

 and early thi.s summer had extended as far as Paris, and later in the season the first 

 recorded captures were made in London. 



The cabbage butterfly is white, witii a black dash at the tip of the fore wings, a black 

 spot on the front margin of the hind wings, ar^ in the male (see fig. 9) mie black spot in 

 Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 



tiie middle of the fore wings, but in the female (see fig. 10) there are two. The under 

 side of the fore wings in both sexes is marked by two spots, correspmding tn those on 

 the upper side in the female ; in other respects the wings are very much alike on both 

 sides, except that beneath there is a tint of yellow at the base and tip. Occasionally male 

 specimens are found of a bright yellow colour, almost like our common sulphur yellow 

 liutterfly (Colias philodire). 



The eggs of this insect are laid on the under side of cabbage leaves, singly or in clus.' 

 tiTs of two or three, where they are attached by some adhesive substance. They are so 

 very small that they easily escape observation ; in shajje they resemble a sugar loaf, 

 and under a suflicient magnifying power their surface appears beautifully ribbed and 

 sculptured. M'hcn newly deposited the eggs are white, but thev soon acquire a yellow 

 tinge, and in about a week they hatch, the enclosed worm escaping by gnawing a hole 



