Packard. 
INSECTS OF THE CARDEN. 
53 
unchecked by its ichneumon parasites or by birds, which are 
preserved in Europe, where with us they are either brutally 
murdered, or neglected if allowed to live. 
The European Cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapce Schrank) 
is, however, a hundred fold more formidable insect, as it is 
fearfully abundant where it occurs, and the caterpillar feeds 
inside of the cabbage head when forming. 
It was introduced from Europe to Quebec about the year 
1857, having been captured in 1859 by Mr. Bowles, of that 
city. It rapidly spread into New England along the differ¬ 
ent railroads leading in from Canada, and is now common 
about Boston and New York and has reached Washington. 
About Quebec it annually destroys $250,000 worth of cab¬ 
bages, according to the Abbe Provancher. It is evident 
that, in this newly arrived insect, we have another formidable 
pest added to our list of imported insects. 
The male butterfly (Fig. 41) is white, with the tips of the 
fore wings black, dusted with white, while on the fore wings 
is a single, and in the female (Fig., 42) there are two large 
black spots, situated two-thirds of the distance from the 
base to the outer edge of the wing. It expands about two 
inches. The female lays her eggs singly on the under side 
of the leaves. The caterpillar (Fig. 43, a) is green, and so 
densely clothed with minute hairs as to be velvety ; it has a 
yellowish stripe down the back, and another along each side, 
the belly being of a paler, brighter green; it is often more 
than an inch long, and about as thick as a large crow-quill. 
It changes in September under some board or stone, to a 
chrysalis, suspended by a thread spun over the back, as 
shown at Fig. 43, b. It is of a pale flesh-brown color, 
freckled with black. It does not appear to have been very 
destructive in Europe, but, like other introduced species, it 
suddenly becomes a fearful scourge. The best remedies are 
evidently hand-picking when the caterpillars can be seen, 
and the capture of the butterflies by means of a light gauze 
21 
