INSECT RAVAGES. 



387 



they can readily be picked up by children, and destroyed. 

 About the same period, too, the leaves are perforated by 

 little skipping beetles, the " cabbage- fleas " Haltica con- 

 sobrina; these, however, are rarely noticeable to the 

 same extent, as with the turnip crop. The caterpillar 

 of the "white cabbage-butterfly Pontia brassicce 



1. Cabbage-butterfly, P. Itrassicce (female). 2. Eggs of Cabbage-butterfly. 3. Caterpillar. 

 4. Chrysalis. 5 and 6. Parasitic Fly Pteromalus puparum (natural size and magnified). 



is another enemy that visits the plant at a somewhat 

 later period of the season. The butterfly is met with 

 in the fields and gardens, from about May to October, 

 and lays its eggs upon the leaves of the plants and 

 pods, upon which the caterpillars feed, sometimes to 

 such an extent as completely to strip the plant, and thus 

 insure its death. The cabbage-butterfly is the largest of 

 the three varieties; the female has two large black spots 

 on the upper wings, and a splash upon the lower margin ; 

 on the under side the two black spots are apparent in 

 both sexes, and the tips are yellow, the under wings being 



