THE WHITE BUTTERFLY 
17 
CYCLE—Female moth lays its eggs on under¬ 
parts ol the leaves of any plant of the cabbage 
family. Tiny caterpillars hatch out in three or four 
days and soon make their way into the heart of the 
plant. They continue eating holes in the leaves for 
nearly four weeks, then change to pupae, which are 
often found under buildings. Butterflies emerge 
from these in seven or eight days. Lhere are five or 
six generations during a New Zealand summer, and 
the butterfly is now considered to be our worst 
garden pest. Caterpillar is velvet green with faint 
• gold stripes. 
EGGS—Very small, yellow and pointed; found 
singly, not grouped, from 20 to 120 on each plant 
leaf or part of building. 
NOTES—If young cabbage plants and turnip 
plants are dusted with pyrethrum powder so that 
powder sticks to the under parts of the leaves, this 
will prevent the butterflies from laying their eggs 
on the leaves. A cheaper, but more time-taking 
method, is to spray with water in which soft soap 
(2 oz. to 1 gal.) and golden syrup or treacle (1 
tablespoon per gal.) has been dissolved. 
The caterpillars from the eggs of the Diamond 
Back Moth also eat holes in the leaves of cabbages, 
etc. They can be distinguished by the rapidity with 
which they loop and crawl along the leaf when 
disturbed, or else drop towards the ground 
suspended to the leaf by a fine silken thread. A 
parasite insect which feeds on the caterpillars that 
emerge from the White Butterfly s eggs has 
recently been introduced into New Zealand, and is 
said to be producing promising results. (See p. 18.) 
