360 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
Fig. 1—Pontia Oleracea—the perfect insect. 
Microscopic Views of the Insect World-• 
no. vm. 
BY MBS. CHARLOTTE TAYLOB. 
white cabbage butterfly. —Pontia Oleracea. 
No insect has called forth so much attention 
for the last two years, judging from the notices 
I have received of it, as the one- shown above at 
Fig. 1. It is not at all surprising; few can 
equal it in its depredations in the kitchen gar¬ 
den. There is no doubt it is the Pontia Oleracea, 
potherb Pontia of Dr. Harris—the Pontia Rapes 
(Haworth) of Europe; therefore it is useless on 
account of some trifling discrepancies to class it 
differently, or to substitute another name. It 
corresponds in every particular with Dr. Har¬ 
ris’ insect, except in the location of the eggs. 
Ho says “ they are fastened under the lower 
part of the leaves, three or four on each.” I 
have never found her eggs deposited in any 
place except just where the leaf joins on to the 
cabbage stalk—down in the rim of the mid¬ 
vein, <1 Fig. 4. The formation of the egg, b Fig. 
2, shows the necessity for this—it is pear shaped, 
yellow at first, deepening in hue as it becomes 
old, most exquisitely ribbed and flatted, a charm¬ 
ing little atom, just right for a Fairy’s car-drop. 
Two weeks, sometimes less, from the time of 
the deposit, small green caterpillars emerge. 
They do not confine themselves to the cabbage— 
the whole cruciferous family of plants receive 
then’ attention ; broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, 
none of them come amiss. However, it proper¬ 
ly belongs to the cabbage, and I shall treat it as 
Fig. 2— b, Egg of the Cabbage Butterfly, highly magni¬ 
fied. The natural size is shown by the dot between 
tlie lines on the right, g, an antenna. 
such. When feeding on this plant, it is found 
only on the under side of the leaf, devouring the 
pulp, leaving the veins untouched. It is a very 
singular fact which you may notice yourself, 
that no leaf is eaten except it inclines vertical¬ 
ly ; their mandibles or jaws cutuimards and never 
on a line with the head, therefore the edge of the 
leaf is never touched. It is quite impossible to 
show their jaws on paper. They are small 
horny points, put into action by the will of the 
insect. As soon as life is extinct, they disappear 
within the head, and become merely little pro¬ 
tuberances among the muscles; and if you try 
to see the movement by holding a piece of mir¬ 
ror beneath them, the lower part of the mouth 
protrudes so much, it quite conceals the motion. 
The jagged cut in the leaf, c Fig. 4, when fresh¬ 
ly done, shows distinctly how it is accomplished. 
The time of feeding varies, being three weeks 
or more. When arrived at this age, they may 
be considered full grown. They are now an 
inch and a half long—a beautiful transparent 
green, of the same hue as the cabbage, covered 
with soft white hairs, which are imperceptible 
without a glass. They moult four times with 
little effort, and generally at night or early dawn, 
coming to the surface of the leaf, and when 
abundant, them discarded skins give that shim¬ 
mering luster often seen on cabbage leaves. 
When it has fed sufficiently, it crawls off to 
twigs, old stumps, or palings, or most generally 
any shrubs near by, as currant bushes, etc., it 
crawls up a branch, and spins a tuft of silk, into 
which it fastens the hooks of the hindmost feet, 
and then proceeds to spin a loop. With its 
head bent over the middle of its body, it fastens 
a silken thread, bringing it back and confining 
Fig. 3— e, Larva, or caterpillar spinning the belt. 
it on the other side, e Fig. 3. Back and forth 
moves the patient head, slowly evolving the 
silken cable, until it concludes it is strong enough 
to prevent it from falling. It then rests awhile, 
gradually contracting its skin, which bursts in 
a day or so, and leaves the chrysalis firmly se¬ 
cured to the twig, / Fig. 5. It is of a pale green 
if the caterpillar has fed well; if not, it is a soil¬ 
ed white, always regularly spotted with black 
dots. From the tubercle of the head you often 
find a silken thread many times doubled, thrown 
over a second branch, so as to give double se¬ 
curity,/, fig. 5. This generally occurs in Autumn, 
when it will remain over all Winter, and is 
necessary to secure it from being shaken off 
by storms of wind and snow. If this 
second string is omitted, it is considered a prog¬ 
nostic of a very mild Winter. In Germany there 
is an old adage “ when the caterpillar has two 
belts, pile high the wood ”—no doubt alluding to 
this circumstance. 
In two weeks more the butterfly comes forth, 
a Fig. 1. It is quite white, except near the 
body, here and there a fleck to make it appear 
whiter, one or two faint lines are seen like veins ; 
the under parts of the wings are shaded with 
yellow, the second pair the darkest, and near the 
body are of a deep yellow; the veins too are 
very distinct and well defined on the under side. 
The body and head are black except a few pale 
hairs to show the segments of the abdomen. 
The antennae, g Fig. 2, have rings of white, the 
knobs are flattened, and are of an ochre yellow. 
The palpi are slender, a few hairs, and project 
somewhat beyond the head. This insect be¬ 
longs to Ihe Lcpidoptera division. It is a true 
Eapilionite or Butterfly, flics during the day, 
belonging to the subgenus Pontia, having the 
wings always erect and meeting at the I jack 
when it is at rest. ‘They are remarkable for 
then pugnacious disposition. Whenever you see 
a dozen or more quenching then thirst around a 
pond or a pool of dirty water—for they are not 
particular when imbibing—a fierce battle is 
Fig. 4—c, Section of the cabbage leaf eaten by the larva:. 
d, Location of the eggs. 
sure to ensue. They commence by jostling one 
another on the bank or edge of the water, thrust¬ 
ing their antennse at each other, flapping their 
wings, then the melee commences, and often be¬ 
comes so deeply interesting that their natural 
enemy, a bird, or a member of the Libellalina or 
dragon fly family pounces in and devours one 
half of the struggling combatants before the oth¬ 
ers have discovered the ill-omened presence. 
This insect is to be found in every part of the 
country where its food is cultivated, from June 
until November. There is no excuse for any 
one to be troubled with them. As you per¬ 
ceive they undergo their transformations above 
ground, by carefully searching around and 
over your cabbage bed, you can easily discover 
the chrysalides and destroy them in the Fall. 
The caterpillar is the natural food of the Chick¬ 
adee and Sparrow; one or more of these birds 
caught, tied by the legs, and allowed to fly over 
the bed, will clear them out in a day or so. The 
butterfly is hunted with the utmost persistency 
Fig. 5— -f, Chrysalis secured to a twig. 
by the dragon fly family. I have seen the ruby 
red dragon fly of the South and Middle States 
take off the heads of a half dozen in less than a 
minute. Then again there is the ever useful 
toad—he is a host in himself—give him a home 
in your cabbage bed and he will do you right 
good service. My pets of the past Summer 
would eat these caterpillars by the hundred at 
a meal, and though sometimes filled to bursting, 
there was always room for one more of these 
dainty little fellows. 
Bees Robbing a Vineyard. —The Califor¬ 
nia Daily Bee, slates that ten thousand hives of 
bees are kept in and about Sacramento, where 
flowers are scarce, mid that they pick up their 
living as they can find it. Among other expe¬ 
dients, they this year resorted to the vineyards, 
attacked the choicest sweet grapes, sucking them 
dry, and making great havoc. 
