224 



The Cabbage Moth. 



[JULY, 



about one and three-fourths of an inch, and the length of the 

 body nearly or quite three-fourths of an inch. The moths fly 

 at dusk and at night, remaining at rest upon tree trunks 

 palings, &c, during the day. They may also be found nestling 

 against the sides of clods and stones in fields. 



The eggs are laid on the leaves of plants, especially cabbages, 

 and hatch in six or seven days. The caterpillars, like the moth, 

 are very varied in colour (apparently depending upon the plants 

 which form their food). When young they are always green, 

 but as they grow the colour changes : some remain green, others 

 become greyish-green, and some almost black on the back 

 and yellowish above the feet ; below they are greenish-grey. 

 There is sometimes a prominent dusky line along the back. 

 The head is ochreous and horny, and the first segment is 

 blackish ; the legs and prolegs are all green, and the spiracles 

 pure white. When full grown they reach an inch and a quarter 

 in length ; the grown caterpillars roll themselves up into a ring 

 if touched. 



The method of feeding varies according to the plant attacked. 

 When the larvae are on cabbage they eat their way into the 

 heart of the plant, no matter how solid, and defile it with moist 

 green excreta (" frass "), which gives the cabbage a most 

 disgusting appearance. Plants may be completely riddled by 

 them. When attacking turnips, &c, they devour the leaves 

 down to the midribs. 



When mature the caterpillar either enters the ground to 

 pupate, or may change on the surface, or under a stone or tile. 

 The pupa is shining chestnut brown with occasional darker 

 areas ; it may be placed in a cell of earth, or it may be naked 

 in the soil. Most of the caterpillars have pupated by the late 

 autumn, but some only do so in the next spring. They may 

 even be found in cabbages during the winter. 



All chrysalids should be destroyed when the ground is dug 

 in winter. If large areas ot cabbage have been attacked it 

 would be well to turn poultry on the land ; in garden cultiva- 

 tion, digging in the winter would turn up the chrysalids, and 

 these could be collected or birds turned in. 



Handpicking, before the caterpillars have left the outer leaves 

 and eaten their way into the heart, should also be practised. 



