186 LARGE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. 



with the wild cabbage, (Brassica oleracea,} which, as 

 might be expected, affords food to an immense num- 

 ber of the Cabbage caterpillars ; and, accordingly, 

 the butterfly is exceedingly abundant in that neigh- 

 bourhood. The latter end of September I saw many 

 caterpillars creeping about the cliffs, and undergoing 

 their transformations. I remarked, that those which 

 were infected by the Microgaster, far exceeded in 

 number those which would arrive at the chrysalis 

 state. I have also had occasion to make the same 

 remark at Matcham, in Surrey. I may add, that on 

 the 25th of September, I observed at Dover many 

 specimens of Microgaster in the winged state, adhe- 

 ring to the pupa, from which they appeared to have 

 just emerged ; and the same also at Matcham, on the 

 8th of October. The flies thus produced at this late 

 season of the year, would, no doubt, attack the later 

 broods of Cabbage caterpillars, which are often to be 

 met with so late as the end of October, or even in 

 November. The large and continuous supply of this 

 little parasite throughout the summer and autumn, so 

 long as its services are required, is one of those wise 

 and beneficent provisions, which cannot but excite 

 our admiration."* 



If we compare the myriads of caterpillars that 

 often attack our cabbages and broccoli, with the small 

 number, comparatively, of butterflies of this species 

 that usually appear, we may conjecture that they are 



* Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, No. XXIII. for 

 January, 1832. 



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