INJURIOUS TO CABBAGE AND RELATED CROPS 



Fig. 8. — Egg of 

 the cabbage looper 

 (X 10). 



later emerging moths may hibernate. In any case, only a 

 relatively small number survive the winter and consequently 

 the first brood of the season is small and causes comparatively 

 little injury. The female moth deposits her small whitish 

 eggs singly or in small groups usually on the 

 upper side of the leaves. The e^^ (Fig. 8) 

 is about ^^ inch in diameter, pale greenish 

 yellow or nearly white in color, nearly 

 circular in outline and rounded above. The 

 surface is beautifully marked with a series 

 of ridges radiating from the apex. The 

 length of the egg stage has not been deter- 

 mined but it is probably not far from a week 

 or ten days. The young larvte are pale green 

 in color and feed at first on the outer leaves of the cabbage ; 

 as they grow older, they become darker green and are marked 

 with distinct wdiite longitudinal lines. At this time they work 

 in toward the center of the plant, and often bore into the form- 

 ing head. The full-grown caterpillar (Fig. 9) is about 1| 

 inches in length. It is pale green in color with a ^vhite stig- 

 matal stripe and two dorsal stripes extending the whole length 



of the body. On each side 

 of the dorsal stripe there is 

 a fine white line. The 

 caterpillar is narrower in 

 front and has the body en- 

 larged toward the posterior 

 end w^hich is bluntly trun- 

 cate. Although the cater- 

 pillars are close relatives of the cutworms, they crawl with a 

 peculiar looping motion like the measuring-worms, due to no 

 prolegs being present on the third and fourth abdominal 

 segments. The cater})illars attain their growth in from 

 two weeks to a month, depending on the temperature. 



Fig. 



9. — Full-grown cabbage looper 

 (Xlf). 



