58 



INSECT PESTS 



be seen to be obtained by the use of pale yellow and 

 dense black scales. 



UVRCe WHITE DuTreRFLV 



(Fcmaac) Mcja has no found 

 ICHNEUMON Flv block spot-* M u-r^,, 



CaJ0on^ c«ien)ei» fron 



•CHNfcUMOIV/ R.Y 

 60 uo. 



CASB*>Ot 

 APHIS vw- 



'-ADvQiCO(rw. vi^ 



Platk 14. 

 Large Cabbage White Butterfly. 



The history of these insects is closely connected with 

 that of the cabbage plants on which they now feed so 

 voraciously. 



Surely no one walking along a strip of common by the 

 sea and noticing for the first time the little wild brassica 

 plant would recognize in it the parent of our magnificent 

 drumheads, savoys, kohl rabi, etc. ? We might suppose 

 that Nature had thought about it a good deal too, and 

 marked out the cultivated cabbage as a sort of insect 

 paradise, judging by the riddled appearance of some of 

 our crops. 



Of course the riddled appearance spells neglect, nothing 

 else, for those who fail to look over the leaves for butterfly 

 eggs when the plant is young, or to use soot and salt water 

 later, or hand-pick the caterpillars still later, will lose the 

 majority of their cabbages. 



But these mechanical methods only palliate. They 

 do not take us any further towards settling the thing. 

 Where then does the real cure lay ? We know, of course, 



