544 
Annual Report of New York 
two or three weeks earlier than its appearance through the eastern 
and northern sections of the State. 
lliis insect is a native of the eastern continent, and from time 
immemorial has been well known in all the countries of Europe, as 
being in its larva state a cabbage worm of all others the most 
obnoxious, it is so prone to attack the inner leaves of this vegetable 
eating its way into the heads and secreting itself therein. Du pou¬ 
ch el informs us that in consequence of this habit of penetrating into 
the interior of the plants on which it feeds, it in France is named the 
Ver du canir, i. e. the Heart-worm. The butterflies are very com¬ 
mon everywhere, in the gardens and meadows, beginning to appear 
the last days of April and continuing till the end of the season. 
It was brought to this country in some vessel which discharged its 
cargo at Quebec. Mr. Riley, in his second report on the Noxious 
Insects of Missouri, p. 108, suggests it was probably introduced into 
this country in its egg state, upon a batch of refuse cabbage leaves 
which were thrown from some vessel, where, after hatching, the 
young larva managed to And suitable food close by. But the insect 
does not remain in its egg state the length of time required for such 
a voyage. The eggs, however, hatching on shipboard, the worms 
from them would readily sustain themselves on the leaves, and on 
reaching port where fresh vegetables could be obtained, the few 
wilted and decaying cabbages remaining would be thrown away, with 
some of these worms lurking among their leaves, whereby their race 
was probably started upon our continent. 
It was in the year 1859 that this butterfly was first taken in 
Quebec, and Mr. J. G. Bowles, in a paper in the Canadian Naturalist 
for August, 1864, estimates that it had not then extended more 
than forty miles from Quebec in different directions. In 1866 
it was captured in the northern parts of Vermont and New Hamp¬ 
shire, and in 1868 they had reached Lake Winnepesaugee, in the 
center of the latter State. Last year they were reported as having 
been taken at Bangor and other places in Maine, and also in New 
Jersey. The present year (1870), probably favored by the protracted 
drouth, they have suddenly overspread a large portion of the middle 
and western States, and have everywhere become so multiplied as to 
nearly ruin the cabbage crop in most of the gardens. 
The eggs are placed indifferently anywhere upon the under side 
of the leaves, and somtimes one may be seen on the leaf stalk, on 
the edge of the leaf, or on its upper surface. They are but slightly 
attached to the leaf, separating therefrom if gently pressed against. 
